tracy@hcrvax.UUCP (Tracy Tims) (08/09/84)
I was thinking about ``Z'' in Dreadstar and I realized that his name is
another shining example of the right and proper Canadian method of
pronunciation. You folks down there in the USofA say ``zee'', right? What
does ``zee'' connote? Let's see, it rhymes with ``free'', ``whee'', ``tree'',
and of course ``pee''. Hardly awe-inspiring. Up here, we say ``ZED''. Now
what does that connote? It rhymes with ``dread'' and even better, ``dead''!
Definitely a pronunciation with more drama and power. Why the American
pronunciation is positively cringing in comparison. There is just no way
I can take a comic book villain with a name like Pee, sorry, Zee, seriously.
I would like to personally congratulate every American on the persistence of
their civilization in the face of such essential handicaps.
Tracy Tims {linus,allegra,decvax}!watmath!...
Human Computing Resources Corporation {lbl-csa,ihnp4,utzoo}!...
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 416 922-1937 ...hcr!hcrvax!tracymoriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (08/13/84)
>There is just no way >I can take a comic book villain with a name like Pee, sorry, Zee, seriously. Yes, but we have a comedian by the name of Pee-Wee Herman, and I bet he comes across a lot differently in Canada... people are probably afraid of him (they SHOULD be...). Whoever heard of Ped-Wee Herman... sounds like something out of Star Wars. >I would like to personally congratulate every American on the persistence of >their civilization in the face of such essential handicaps. Thank you. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. Civilization? WHAT civilization? Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. UUCP: {cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \ {allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi) (08/14/84)
On the other hand, many years ago there was a movie called "Z" starring Yves Montand and directed by Costa-Gavras. The reason this works is that the hero (it's based on a true story) had a name starting with "Z" and after his death (killed by his political enemies in the government) his followers refer to him as "Z", which is pronounced "zee", which is phonetically the same as "zei" which means "He lives". At least that was the way it was explained to me--the explanation showed up in TIME, for example. 2 points: 1) I remember seeing David Frost on TV, referring to the movie as "Zed". 2) The movie took place in Greece, so shouldn't he have been called "Zeta"? Oh well, Mike Ciaraldi ciaraldi@rochester seismo!rochester!ciaraldi