pronounce CZ

[Zundfolge]

Was talking to someone today and I mentioned CZ ... I pronounced it see-zee and was quickly corrected ... I was told it's see-zead (the "Z" is supposed to be the British pronounciation).

My response was that guns where illegal in England so screw how they say it there :neener:


lets see who gets the third one

[10-Ring]

I've always called them See - Zee's :) If they want to call them something different they should learn to spell :D

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I either call them 'good' or 'Evolved P-35 Hi Powers"

In less schooled company I pronounce it 'See Zee'.

Regards,
Rabbit.

[boing]

See Zee.

See Zed is hipster doofus talk for CZ geeks named Ray L. Yacht.

[Thefumegator]

You're looking at a 100% American here. It's See-Zee. If I were British, maybe it would be See-Zed, or whatever lame terminology they use.

Maybe we should ask how they say it in Czechoslovakia, just to solve this once and for all!

:D :neener:

Wes

[Chugach]

See Zee it is...

[larryw]

Raymond Luxury Yacht

:D

[Zundfolge]

sorry Larry, boing beat you to it :D

(us geeks will just let the rest of you guys figure out what the heck we're talking about)

[Lancel]

I say "See Zee".

The following covers my use of "See Zead" since I'm not sure if you mean "Zead" as in "Zed" or "Zeed":

Might use "See Zed" if in Britain, referring to C-Zero whatever that might be.
Would definitely use "See Zeed" to refer to someone shot by a CZ. As in "Looks like the fellow in the chalk outline was See Zeed".

Hope that clarifies my vote.:D

Larry

[faustulus]

Was there a debate over this I didn't know about? How else would you say the letters 'C" and "Z" ? It is just the initials for Ceska Zbrojovka, and that don't sound english to me.

[New_comer]

Pronounce CZ:


Chee-Zee (Yum!) ;)

Zee-zee (I heard several who pronounce it this way!) :eek:

Me, I say "C-Z" :)

[Ala Dan]

Or how about cee zee?:uhoh: :D :rolleyes:

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

[SAWBONES]

Geesh, how does ANYBODY pronounce "CZ"? As "See-Zee", of course.

The more interesting question is how to actually pronounce "Ceska Sbrojovka", which is, of course, the name of the Czechoslovakian company:

According to how I've understood it to be pronounced, "Chez-kuh Sbroe-jove-kuh" is as close as I can put it in English phonetic equivalents.

Slavic languages tend to have adjacent consonants much more often than any of the "Romance" languages or English.

One can always debate whether words and proper names should be pronounced according to their original (true language) form, or in the vernacular, but I always aim for the former. (Thus, Volkswagen is "Folks-vah-gen", with specific pronunciation of the "l" in Folks, and not "Vokes-Wagon".)
There's no right or wrong with this sort of thing, though, or we wouldn't have accents. (My Southern wife says "mirra", "pilla", and "yella" for "mirror", "pillow", and "yellow".)

Best.

[larryw]

D'oh (maybe I should say, "Ni" instead?), I didn't see boing's response! :p

[4v50 Gary]

How about C-C? :)

[Matthew_Q]

see zee

I'm AMERICAN. It's the letter C and the letter Z.

But I do like to call it ceska zbrojovka, which is pronounced:

CHESS-kah Zbro-XHOV-kah (XH as in pleaSUre)

[Tamara]

The first one (although I've been known to tease CZ fanatic friends with the term "Zed Head". ;) )

[longeyes]

It's pronounced "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"... you know, that sleeping sound...

[Kalrog]

Charlie Zulu?

[T.Stahl]

Why not just call them Brünners? :D

[chaim]

I pronounced it see-zee and was quickly corrected ... I was told it's see-zead (the "Z" is supposed to be the British pronounciation). Sure, the British promounciation is right- if you are British!!!

Here in the US we use American English. In the Czech republic they probably use the Brit pronounciation because in Europe most people learn British English instead of American English (I guess that makes sense since they are closer).

As someone said, those are just the initials so they should probably be pronounced the way those letters are pronounced wherever you are.

[LIProgun]

Tarquin Fintimlinbinwhinbimlim Bus Stop F'tang F'tang Ole Biscuit-Barrel (Silly Party).

[GlocksRock]

I hate when I hear people pronounce z as zed, it ticks me off. It is said like zee, stupid no englinsh speaking people. Grrrr.... I have to hear this all the time at my job. :banghead:

[bigmtnman]

Anyone remember the Czech CZ Scrambles(motocross) motorcycles of the 60's and early 70's?
I remember that those were pronounced with a decidedly Czech flavor.
Chay-Zay

[Erik Jensen]

Cheznya zoobrovka



Edit.. ok, I see I'm wrong.. :P that's what you get when a Romanian tells you how to pronounce Czech.

[Shaughn Leayme]

CZ = See Zee


Now I have always pronounced it Chess - ka Bri - ov- ka and I have not been corrected by a Czech coworker, I figure that means I am close to the proper pronunciation or that she is being polite:D

[natedog]

I usually refer to any CZ guns as "Check" as in "Check 75"

[igor]

Up here they're affectionately referred to as Zetor (which actually is a miserable Byelo-Russian tractor make) :p

[Nero Phoenix]

This is an old topic I know, but I stumbled across this by accident, and I thought I'd try and help settle the matter.

Firstly, companies tend to be pronounced world wide as they are pronounced by the people who created it. CZ is an American company (I think) so therefore world wide it should technically be See Zee.

However the British pronunciation would indeed by See Zed, discounting the above material.

As for those who believe they pronounce it correctly as See Zee due to the fact that it is American, and that is how it is supposed to be pronounced, while fair to say, that is correct in American English, however it is only the case in American English. The rest of the world does speak British English (for the most part) where it would be Zed. For those who believe the American version is superior, I ask why? British English is the most widely spoken and indeed the original, with many word stems which are deprived from the mother of all languages Latin. American English has lost many of these stems. So why is the vastly outnumbered and arguably lazy version of English the superior? I'm not trying to start an argument, I just wondered where people get this Idea from, and why other versions would tick people off so. I find some of the comments here pompous and naive.

[McCall911]

Oh, it's cee-zee, for goodness' sake!

The British know it's "zee" and not "zed." They just have to be different.

Anyway, what do you do when you sleep? Do you "cut some zees" or "cut some zeds?" You cut the zees, of course!

Yes, the British may have originated the language, but it took the Americans to perfect it. The proof? Most of us in America do pronounce our R's, for crying out loud!



:neener::neener::neener:

[JohnKSa]

Why would the British pronunciation of the initials of a Czechoslavakian company be any more correct than the American pronunciation?

If the guy could tell you how to pronounce it in Czech then he'd have something. As it stands it's just some know-it-all trying to show off. (Speaking as a know-it-all who likes to show off.) ;)

[Jim Keenan]

IIRC, this is the U.S. where we pronounce the single letter "Z" as "zee" not "zed." So for any abbreviation, even of a foreign name, I use the American letter pronunciation*.

Shaughn seems to come the closest on pronuncing the actual words. CZ-USA doesn't use it, but in Czech, that C in Ceska has a caret mark over it which means it is pronounced "Ch", as in check.

*One exception. When I did a lot of travelling, I used to learn the local pronunciation of the letters of my name. That made it a lot easier when asking about reservations for a hotel or rental car. You might be surprised at what "Keenan" comes out sounding like in other languages. At one point, I seriously thought about spelling it Quinan in Spanish speaking countries, but decided that posed too many conflicts with drivers license and passport.

Jim

[Angus Podgorney]

CZ is an American company (I think)

WRONG... would you care to guess again?

("Let's not call them anything!")

.

[RNB65]

CZ is an American company

Absolutely!

Just like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, and Toyota.

We own the world!

:D

[Quiet]

Česká Zbrojovka a.s., Uherský Brod

I pronounce it as cee-zee. :neener:

[Odd Job]

See Zed

'cos I am South African :neener:

[Blakenzy]

Raymond Luxury Yacht

(us geeks will just let the rest of you guys figure out what the heck we're talking about)

The Flying Circus show??

[Ala Dan]

"Cee Zee"

[The Lone Haranguer]

The letters are C and Z, right? See Zee! I would have thought that obvious.

Now, "Ceska Sbrojovka," I haven't a clue. ;)

Next: is it SIG (or SiG?) P-two-two-eight, or P two-twenty-eight? :uhoh:

[Eightball]

Raymond Luxury-YachtThat.

Or See-Zee. We speak AMERICAN on this side o' the pond, not this silly "Zed" nonsense. It's the letter "ZEE".

[McCall911]

Česká Zbrojovka

It's like: CHESS-kah ZBRAW-yoaf-kah, with the first "kah" a little drawled out.
(Yeah, and a Czech speaker would notice that, too!)

So just pronounce it Cee Zee. Or Cee Zed. Whichever you're used to.

[TomN]

Cee-Zee is the best I can do.

[Oldskoolfan]

Originally posted by GlocksRock:
I hate when I hear people pronounce z as zed, it ticks me off. It is said like zee, stupid no englinsh speaking people. Grrrr.... I have to hear this all the time at my job.

You complain about people who do not speak the language, yet you cannot even properly spell the language you are speaking?:rolleyes:

[Geronimo45]

I always pronounced it 'KZZZZ' - like an alarm clock does. :D

[boing]

"We're not using the 'zed' word!"

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=59563&d=1182129723

[chopz]

i like to call mine "rosie."

[Stevie-Ray]

Anyone remember the Czech CZ Scrambles(motocross) motorcycles of the 60's and early 70's?
I remember that those were pronounced with a decidedly Czech flavor.
Chay-ZayI guess that depended on where you were, also. The 250 Motocross I rode was a See-Zee. The 250 my buddy's father still rides is also a See-Zee.

[bender]

Raymond Luxury Yacht

(us geeks will just let the rest of you guys figure out what the heck we're talking about)

The Flying Circus show??

ok, so tell us. Is it a monty python joke??? I'm a big fan but its been a long time since I've watched the shows. I do have the Holy Grail movie practically memorized though... (I caught the "Ni" joke back on page 1)

[Matt King]

I have always pronounced it "Cee Zee." Never heard it said any other way.

[Sodbuster]

Is Oleg laughing or shaking his head at this?! ;) BTW Another important Czech pronunciation is Pilsner Urquell.

[Lonestar49]

...

CZzzzzzz... boom! wakeup!


LS :neener:

[bender]

ok, since nobody answered my "where did raymond luxury yacht" come from inquiry, I googled it. Yep, monty python. Being such a huge fan, I'm embarrassed that it went over my head. I'll have to dust off my 14-DVD set of the entire Flying Circus show and start watching them again.

[deputy tom]

Chesska seb broyav ka.At least that's what the fellow that worked in their factory told me.He now delivers Buses and custom coaches in the USA.tom.;)

[sm]

Y'all do realize this here thread started in 2003 :)

You really don't want me, a Suthern boy , how to say them initials.

RC down here getcha a Royal Crown Cola...

Depending which part of town you on, and if near the tracks, saying them initials -"CZ" liable to get a Hooker, a Preacher, or a Hound Dawg to answer you back.

;)

[DWARREN123]

Good Firearms!!:evil:

[Bohemus]

Sorry for exhumation.
I was searching for something and found several old threads abou various pronunciation issues. Have to admit I laughed a lot:-D
http://www.acapela-group.com/text-to-speech-interactive-demo.html
Just select language and speaker.
Copy/paste "Česká Zbrojovka Uherský Brod ČZ 75" or "Brno". And "Koch" works too;)

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Chess
Kuh
Zab
Roy
Oh've
Skuh
Yoo
Hurs
Key
Brode

:D