Zee PM or Zed PM, how do you pronounce it?

[srg]

Hi

I just wondered, all of the americans on Atlantis pronouce ZPM as Zee PM and McKay pronounces it Zed PM as he's from Canada. I was wondering, just for fun, how do you pronounce it?

I use Zed PM.

[SGRanger06]

Zee PM

[Avatar28]

Hi

I just wondered, all of the americans on Atlantis pronouce ZPM as Zee PM and McKay pronounces it Zed PM as he's from Canada. I was wondering, just for fun, how do you pronounce it?

I use Zed PM.

If you're from the US you're probably going to say ZEE PEE EMM. Canucks and Brits and I think most of the other former British colonies are going to say ZED PEE EMM. Not sure about the rest of the world.

[Qasim]

See this: http://forum.gateworld.net/showthrea...ht=Differences

[newtrekker]

Since I am an Aussie I sometimes pronounce it as Zed PM but I say Zee PM sometomes too.

[srg]

See this: http://forum.gateworld.net/showthrea...ht=Differences

d'oh, should have searched.

[JanusAncient]

I usually say zero point module, but I write zee pm.

[Elite Anubis Guard]

I say Zee when I'm being normal, but Zed when I'm messing around.

[knocknashee]

It's ZPM...I wish people would stop writing the 'Z' phonetically as 'Zee' or 'Zed' to make a point about where they are from...

It's almost as annoying as fic writers who insist on writing Carson's accent in his lines...

[alfirin_kirinki]

I usually say zero point module, but I write zee pm.

Geek.

As a Brit, I speak proper English* and pronounce it ZedPM.

It's almost as annoying as fic writers who insist on writing Carson's accent in his lines...

Hush it, biatch, I always do that! Provided you don't go over board (and do it well), it can really add to a fic. I hate it when people don't make the effor to at least distinguish his speaking pattern from other people's - or fail to do so with anyone, actually.

But I agree about writing it phonetically. SO annoying.



* Kidding - kidding! (Also, Knocknashee and I are friends - I'm not actually being mean! Hehe)

[knocknashee]

Geek.

As a Brit, I speak proper English* and pronounce it ZedPM.



Hush it, biatch, I always do that! Provided you don't go over board (and do it well), it can really add to a fic. I hate it when people don't make the effor to at least distinguish his speaking pattern from other people's - or fail to do so with anyone, actually.

But I agree about writing it phonetically. SO annoying.



* Kidding - kidding! (Also, Knocknashee and I are friends - I'm not actually being mean! Hehe)

I think it is good when you distinguish people's speech patterns, but lost of authors overcook Carson...to the point where you wonder if they have Rab C. Nesbitt playing him.

I try to avoid where possible, for the simple reason that a lot of people who read fics probably don't read or speak English as their first language...

Heh Heh...there are 3 parties by the way...woot!!! That's a lot of clothes AK...

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

It is ZPM Zero Point Module. Canadians pronounce Z as Zed. Don't ask me why, and no, I'm not kidding.

[knocknashee]

It is ZPM Zero Point Module. Canadians pronounce Z as Zed. Don't ask me why, and no, I'm not kidding.

Cos it's the way it should be said...the question should be, 'Why do the Americans say 'Zee'?'

[alfirin_kirinki]

It is ZPM Zero Point Module. Canadians pronounce Z as Zed. Don't ask me why, and no, I'm not kidding.

The English Language came before American English developed from it and accents were formed.

The 'correct' pronunciation is ZED and that is the pronunciation used in most English-speaking countries. The ba5tardised* Zee Americans use is the anomaly.


*I use this in its form to mean 'derive from', it's not a swearword.

[Avatar28]

Cos it's the way it should be said...the question should be, 'Why do the Americans say 'Zee'?'

Because the letter is called a Zee.

Edit: And I'm not sure where I heard it so don't flame me, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that American English, particularly in the south, is actually closer to the King's English (from the 1700's when North America was being largely settled) than is current British English.

Ah, did a quick Wikipedia search on it and look what I found.
American English at Wikipedia

The English Language came before American English developed from it and accents were formed.

The 'correct' pronunciation is ZED and that is the pronunciation used on most English-speaking countries. The *******ised Zee Americans use is the anomaly.

Alfirin, I wouldn't be so sure about that according to this.

In many ways, compared to British English, American English is conservative in its phonology. The conservatism of American English is largely the result of the fact that it represents a mixture of various dialects from the British Isles. Dialect in North America is most distinctive on the East Coast of the continent; this is largely because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of British English at a time when those varieties were undergoing changes. The interior of the country was settled by people who were no longer closely connected to England, as they had no access to the ocean during a time when journeys to Britain were always by sea. As such the inland speech is much more homogeneous than the East Coast speech, and did not imitate the changes in speech from England.

So according to that, as America was being settled, British English was changing and in flux and American English stayed relatively the same (at least your "standard" American dialect).

As for which type of English is more proper, I'll just mention that Wikipedia notes "As of 2005, more than two thirds of native speakers of English use various forms of American English. American English is also sometimes called United States English or U.S. English."

While we're on the subject of Wikipedia, here's what they had to say regarding Z (well, a small part of it. You wouldn't believe how much of a writeup it has.

In almost all forms of Commonwealth English, the letter is named zed, reflecting its derivation from the Greek zeta (see below). Other European languages use a similar form, e.g. the French zède, Spanish and Italian zeta. The American English form zee derives from an English late 17th-century dialectal form, now obsolete in England. Another English dialectal form is izzard, which dates from the mid 18th-century, probably deriving from French et zède meaning and z, or else from s hard.