4 ms·

A bit OT but American English is becoming very popular over here in the UK. It's very common to see z instead of s in words for example. I wouldn't be surprised

A bit OT but American English is becoming very popular over here in the UK. It's very common to see z instead of s in words for example. I wouldn't be surprised to see the u dropped at all.

mixmastamyk 4y ago
Most “American” spelling came from Britain originally.
- User23 4y ago
  Soccer for example is English slang from back when.
  - jen20 4y ago
    An abbreviation of “association football”.
brigandish 4y ago
"z" has been a valid alternative to "s" since I was a boy (and I can no longer claim to be a spring chicken). What I have noticed more of is children saying "zee" instead of "zed". I beat those children and they come to realise that they deserve it.
- wincy 4y ago
  More people in the world say “zee” than “zed”. I’m surprised to hear a British person wants to sound like they’re French. (I’m just kidding as I hope you are about beating children)
  - brigandish 4y ago
    Thanks to India, more people in the world say "w" like "v" but I feel safe knowing that Indians have a better accent and better spelling than anyone in North America, and I would never joke about anything this serious. ;-)
  - hinoki 4y ago
    Are you sure? I think they say zed in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. That’s quite a few English speakers.
    - pessimizer 4y ago
      Canada, NZ, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria...
      - brigandish 4y ago
        From [1]: > Population > 2018 estimate > 1,352,642,280 > Official languages > Hindi > English [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
        vinay427 4y ago
        You do realize that a minority of people in India speak English, right? As a starting point, this source lists about 128 million people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-s...
        brigandish 4y ago
        You've given a figure that is around a third of the entire population of the United States, so I think I'm on safe ground, even taking into account the Indian government's well known inability at accurate record taking, but thanks for the list, Pakistan has "187,758,480" under English speakers. No chance of them saying "zee". [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31983828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31983828
      - bigmealbigmeal 4y ago
        Whatever the internet tells you about what is "standard"... as someone who has spent his life in New Zealand, I can assure you the majority of under-30s usually use "zee". "Zed" is on its way out. It probably started with the popularity things like Sesame Street and Dragon Ball Z (Dragon Ball Zee). However, interestingly, the one time everyone uses "zed" is when we acronymise the country name -- NZ, or N-Zed.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- pessimizer 4y ago
  Why add another consonant to the name of a consonant? Literally the only letter that's like that. Americans and the British (and a couple billion other people) share a language that is spelled like shit. We should steal simplifications from each other as much as possible.
  - CydeWeys 4y ago
    I'm an American, but I use "zed" over "zee" in some contexts (such as ham radio) because "zee" is too easily confusable with the other letters it rhymes with: bee, see, dee, gee, pee, tee. It's definitely an advantage. And you don't have to drop into NATO phonetic with its multiple syllables per letter.
  - brigandish 4y ago
    I think you missed a few, and it's not just consonants: Ay, see, ef, jee, aitch, aye, jay, kay, oh, kyuu, yuu, double-yuu, eks, why?, zed. It's because the English alphabet is not a phonetic lettering system. If I were American I'd: a) start saying "t" in the middle of a word as a "t" instead of a "d", and b) vastly improve the standard of my spelling and those around me before telling anyone, especially British people, that words shouldn't be spelt "like shit". Personally, I'm with the Arguments against reform section of Wikipedia[1]: > English is a West Germanic language that has borrowed many words from non-Germanic languages, and the spelling of a word often reflects its origin. This sometimes gives a clue as to the meaning of the word. Even if their pronunciation has strayed from the original pronunciation, the spelling is a record of the phoneme. Which is how I can usually guess the correct pronunciation and meaning of an unfamiliar word while I see highly educated Americans butcher the pronunciation of anything outside the common vernacular. These "simplifications" are doing anything but. However: > Another criticism is that a reform may favor one dialect or pronunciation over others, creating a standard language If I could force North Americans to speak better then I might be persuaded. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_spelling_reform#Arguments_against_reform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_spelling_refo... Edit: an important point was missed!
    - thaumasiotes 4y ago
- MikeTheGreat 4y ago
  I grew up here in the US saying "zee". It's only now, in my wiser years, that I'm realizing the obvious: with "bee", "cee", and "dee" (amongst others) all sounding similar-ish already that we really ought to embrace "zed" for clarity. Or we could all memorize something like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet, I guess.

A bit OT but American English is becoming very popular over here in the UK. It's very common to see z instead of s in words for example. I wouldn't be surprised to see the u dropped at all.

mixmastamyk 4y ago

Most “American” spelling came from Britain originally.

User23 4y ago
Soccer for example is English slang from back when.
- jen20 4y ago
  An abbreviation of “association football”.

brigandish 4y ago

"z" has been a valid alternative to "s" since I was a boy (and I can no longer claim to be a spring chicken). What I have noticed more of is children saying "zee" instead of "zed". I beat those children and they come to realise that they deserve it.

wincy 4y ago
More people in the world say “zee” than “zed”. I’m surprised to hear a British person wants to sound like they’re French. (I’m just kidding as I hope you are about beating children)
- brigandish 4y ago
  Thanks to India, more people in the world say "w" like "v" but I feel safe knowing that Indians have a better accent and better spelling than anyone in North America, and I would never joke about anything this serious. ;-)
- hinoki 4y ago
  Are you sure? I think they say zed in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. That’s quite a few English speakers.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    Canada, NZ, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria...
    - brigandish 4y ago
      From [1]: > Population > 2018 estimate > 1,352,642,280 > Official languages > Hindi > English [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
      - vinay427 4y ago
        You do realize that a minority of people in India speak English, right? As a starting point, this source lists about 128 million people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-s...
        brigandish 4y ago
        You've given a figure that is around a third of the entire population of the United States, so I think I'm on safe ground, even taking into account the Indian government's well known inability at accurate record taking, but thanks for the list, Pakistan has "187,758,480" under English speakers. No chance of them saying "zee". [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31983828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31983828
    - bigmealbigmeal 4y ago
      Whatever the internet tells you about what is "standard"... as someone who has spent his life in New Zealand, I can assure you the majority of under-30s usually use "zee". "Zed" is on its way out. It probably started with the popularity things like Sesame Street and Dragon Ball Z (Dragon Ball Zee). However, interestingly, the one time everyone uses "zed" is when we acronymise the country name -- NZ, or N-Zed.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
pessimizer 4y ago
Why add another consonant to the name of a consonant? Literally the only letter that's like that. Americans and the British (and a couple billion other people) share a language that is spelled like shit. We should steal simplifications from each other as much as possible.
- CydeWeys 4y ago
  I'm an American, but I use "zed" over "zee" in some contexts (such as ham radio) because "zee" is too easily confusable with the other letters it rhymes with: bee, see, dee, gee, pee, tee. It's definitely an advantage. And you don't have to drop into NATO phonetic with its multiple syllables per letter.
- brigandish 4y ago
  I think you missed a few, and it's not just consonants: Ay, see, ef, jee, aitch, aye, jay, kay, oh, kyuu, yuu, double-yuu, eks, why?, zed. It's because the English alphabet is not a phonetic lettering system. If I were American I'd: a) start saying "t" in the middle of a word as a "t" instead of a "d", and b) vastly improve the standard of my spelling and those around me before telling anyone, especially British people, that words shouldn't be spelt "like shit". Personally, I'm with the Arguments against reform section of Wikipedia[1]: > English is a West Germanic language that has borrowed many words from non-Germanic languages, and the spelling of a word often reflects its origin. This sometimes gives a clue as to the meaning of the word. Even if their pronunciation has strayed from the original pronunciation, the spelling is a record of the phoneme. Which is how I can usually guess the correct pronunciation and meaning of an unfamiliar word while I see highly educated Americans butcher the pronunciation of anything outside the common vernacular. These "simplifications" are doing anything but. However: > Another criticism is that a reform may favor one dialect or pronunciation over others, creating a standard language If I could force North Americans to speak better then I might be persuaded. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_spelling_reform#Arguments_against_reform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_spelling_refo... Edit: an important point was missed!
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
MikeTheGreat 4y ago
I grew up here in the US saying "zee". It's only now, in my wiser years, that I'm realizing the obvious: with "bee", "cee", and "dee" (amongst others) all sounding similar-ish already that we really ought to embrace "zed" for clarity. Or we could all memorize something like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet, I guess.