XY Zee in Canada is XY Zed

I didn’t pay much attention to this at first because I only heard it used by one person. And then I kept hearing it.

Apparently in Canada, you don’t say “Do XYZ,” you say “Do XY Zed.” If you’re an American like myself, you’re probably going “Huh?” And really, when I first heard it, I did say “Huh?” and then didn’t think much of it. I heard it used by one person. Really. Not every Canadian says it that way.

Turns out every Canadian does say it that way, like ending sentences in “eh.” Ah, but it gets better.

From the Urban Dictionary:

2.	Zed	293 up, 80 down
The way Canadians, British, Australians, and any other English-speaking country aside from the United States pronounce the final letter of the alphabet: Z. The American pronounciation “Zee” is derived from a now commonly obsolete late 17th century English dialect. The pronounciation “Zed” is ratified by the French “Zède”, the Spanish and Italian “Zeta”, and the Dutch “Zet”, to name a few.

There it is.

Canada has adopted a more modern way of saying “Z” than the United States, which seems to be stuck in the 17th century when it comes to language. Who knew?

I stand my belief that English is the bastard child of every other language that has been invented. Read Billy Bryson’s The Mother Tongue and you’ll see what I mean.