![]() ![]() The lower ranked soldier on the “left” protected the senior officers left side. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. Why do British people say leftenant?Īccording to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. Many people say “us” but if they are writing will use the word “me”. It’s just an old English way of speaking. “Us” for me is common in the north east (of England) particularly Co Durham Land of Prince Bishops. Much of our modern alphabet comes directly from the Greek alphabet, including a letter, that looked just like our “Z,” that the Greeks called “zeta.” “Zeta” evolved into the French “zede,” which in turn gave us “zed” as English was shaped by Romance languages like French. In the film clip, Keeley Hawes appears to be playing the Prime Minister, whose bodyguard addresses her as ‘ma’am’ with the reduced vowel. In British English, it is mostly used as a sign of repect for a woman of superior rank, say, in the military or police. Recent post: Is Goose'S Correct? Why do British people say mum? Having said that, British people do sometimes use it when expressing anger… Something may be “bloody marvellous” or “bloody awful“. Don’t worry, it’s not a violent word… it has nothing to do with “blood”.”Bloody” is a common word to give more emphasis to the sentence, mostly used as an exclamation of surprise. Zed In short, the British pronounce “Z” as /zɛd/ (zed) whereas Americans pronounce it as /ziː/ (zee). The zed pronunciation is older, and it more closely resembles the Greek letter, zeta, from which the English letter is derived. Neither is right or wrong, and nobody is ignorant for pronouncing z the way they do. Zee is the American way of saying the letter z. ![]() English speakers in other Commonwealth countries also prefer the pronunciation zed. Writing perfectly in English can be tricky, even if you’re a native speaker.The pronunciation zed is more commonly used in Canadian English than zee. Regardless of which pronunciation you use, people will usually know which letter you’re referring to! But, keep in mind that zed is technically the correct version in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, India, Australia, and New Zealand, and zee is technically correct in the United States. ![]() While zee is only the standardized pronunciation of Z in American English, with the popularity of The Alphabet Song, as well as the popularity of American television shows and films across the world, zee is now sometimes used and accepted in other English-speaking countries. It’s said that zee most likely came about because it rhymes with other letter pronunciations in the English alphabet (e.g., e, d, c, b, g, and p). Zee became the standard way to pronounce Z in the United States in the 19th century. It’s only in American English that it’s pronounced as zee, with Candian English sometimes being the exception, depending on which option the speaker prefers. In England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada ( usually), and New Zealand, Z is pronounced as zed. But it’s also used in almost every English-speaking country. Zed is widely known to be used in British English. You might have heard Z pronounced as zed and zee. There usually isn’t much variation in how to pronounce letters in the alphabet – apart from the letter Z. When you’re learning English as a second language, you have a lot to contend with. Is the Letter “Z” Pronounced “Zee” or “Zed”? ![]()
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