Customer Zupport
Tuesday, November 9, 2004I was just on the line with the (American) customer support staff at Maxtor to replace a failing hard drive, and when I spelled out my last name, I instinctively used the Canadian “zed” instead of “zee”. It wasn’t until the letter had leapt from my lips that I realized that the guy on the other end might have been thinking, “what the hell is a zed?”
I know, because it’s happened before when on the phone with American operators.
*WOMAN:* And your name, sir?
*ME:* John…
*WOMAN:* Last name?
*ME:* Martz
*WOMAN:* Can you spell that for me?
*ME:* Certainly. EM-A-AR-TEE-ZED
*WOMAN:* I’m sorry?
*ME:* EM-A-AR-TEE-ZED
*WOMAN:* So that’s EM-A-AR-TEE-ZEE-EE-DEE?
*ME:* Martzed? No no no… Zed… er.. Zee… gah…
*WOMAN:* Sir?
*ME:* Sigh… EM-A-AR-TEE.... ZEE.
Tian says:
John, consider yourself lucky, my man. Do you know how many ways I have heard my name to be called, and I don’t mean in the tone of passion by a woman.
My name is Tian, it sound just like how it spells. “T” as in “T-shirt”, and “ian” as the popular English name “Ian”.
But most Americans would add an extra “g” at the end of my name, therefore it would sound like “T-yang”. Or they would reform the phonetic syllibles into “Tie-ang” or “Tie-an”.
One dyslexic brista at a local Starbucks call out “Tina”!
oh, my blood is truly boiling now…
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Brenda says:
I have to talk on the phone and spell things to Americans a lot for my job so I’ve trained myself to say “zee”. I’m always worried it’s going to turn into habit and I’ll become a zee-sayer.
Glenn Broadway says:
What’s worse than the American’s claiming they speak English? Software which offers you a language choice on installation, with ‘American English’ as the first choice! Why don’t American’s call their language American? Then they can go and put HERBS and OREGANO on their pizzas, and wrap it in ALUMINIUM foil without annoying the rest of the English speaking world.
I swear they only changed ZED to ZEE so that the A-B-C song on Sesame Street rhymed.
patricia says:
I’ve had the same problem with an art director I deal with in the States. I keep forgetting about the #!@*!! ‘Zee’!
Makes me think of dialogue from ‘Pulp Fiction’:
“Who’s Zed?”
“‘Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.”
RyanO says:
On behalf of the States, I apologize for the rest of us. We are clearly morons that enjoy watching other morons take control over our country and encourage such behavior.
I’m with ya Glen - we speak “american” not “english” - like most things we get our hands on, we’ve butchered this too… I’m 24 years young and was never taught to say ‘zed’ instead of ‘zee’
We’ve been corrupt for quite some time now…
Robot Johnny says:
Now before anyone gets offended, this was never meant as an American-bashing post—just an anecdote about a woman who had never heard that some people call the last letter of alphabet “zed”.
Robert says:
I’m gonna start using that from now on. Zed, zed, zed. Like the sound of it...but I’m not sure how my fellow Texans (who seem to have their own language at times) are going to take it.
Rebecca says:
I was on the phones once at work and spoke to a woman who was calling from the states. She was looking for a different hospital from the one she called. I told her perhaps she was looking for another hospital in another city.
Then she asked me is there a hospital in G.U.E.L.P.H?
Yes, she actally spelled it out. It took me a second to figure out what she was asking. Um, yes you might be looking for a hospital in GUELPH.
Glenn says:
Hang on… Why is Rip Torn’s character in Men In Black called Chief Zed and not Chief Zee?
Oh I know - because Zee sounds stupid and Zed sounds cool! One in the eye for Big Bird!
Glenn.
ian says:
The army solved this one…
Martz = Mike...Alpha...Romeo...Tango...Zulu
And you stop the time wasted...yw
Ben says:
I was talking to a Delta ticket agent on the phone this evening. I don’t know where she was based (Delta is based out of Atlanta but that means nothing in the world of call centres) but it was obvious to me from her accent that she was Hispanic. Anyway, as she gave me my confirmation number I couldn’t help thinking of this post when she pronounced the last letter as zed, not zee.