Americans are just discovering the truth about the alphabet

An American living in Australia has revealed a “hard truth” that she’s been forced to accept Down Under – but Aussies argue they’re doing it wrong.

An American expat who has been living in Australia for just seven months has revealed the tough pill she’s been forced to swallow since arriving Down Under.

Maura Sheahan has had to readjust a lot since moving across the world, but one thing is proving to be particularly challenging.

“There is a controversy here when it comes to the last letter of the alphabet,” she said in a social media post.

“They say the letter ‘Z’ as ‘Zed’ here,” she remarked.

“But it doesn’t stop there.”

The American was shocked to discover the letter 'Z' is pronounced 'zed'. Picture: TikTok/mauradorable

Aussies were quick to defend the pronunciation. Picture: TikTok/mauradorable

The Melbourne resident then went on to compare the difference between US and UK English, pointing out words such as ‘customise’ v ‘customize.’

“Not only do they call it ‘zed’ but they’ve also ditched it in every single word,” she concluded.

Aussies were quick to jump to the defence of their beloved ‘zed’, insisting there is “no controversy at all.”

“No controversy here. America is wrong,” said one user, bluntly.

“We use the Queen’s (now King’s) English,” explained another.

“The only downfall is that the end of our alphabet song doesn’t rhyme. But while we’re here, you should bring up the US’ refusal to use the letter U – color, flavor etc,” said a third.

Of the two, zed takes the crown for eldest pronunciation of the letter.

Dating back to the 12th century, it comes from the Greek and Latin “zeta,” and the French word “zède.”

In Australia and countries that abide by Commonwealth English, such as the UK, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa, ‘zed’ has been widely accepted as the correct pronunciation.

American expat Maura has reignited a century old debate. Picture: Instagram/mauradorable_

Zee, on the other hand, entered English as a 17th century variant of zed.

Its first known appearance is in a 1677 textbook that eventually made its way into the hands of British colonies in America.

A variety of pronunciations continued to be used in the US up until 1828, when famed lexicographer Noah Webster confirmed that “it is pronounced zee” in An American Dictionary of the English Language.

Are we really surprised though?

America does enjoy marching to the beat of its own drum, particularly evident in its refusal to accept the metric system or Celsius.

Originally published as Americans are just discovering the truth about the alphabet