Why is xerox spelled with an x

There are all sorts of clever methods. A tutorial on such things would be a good introduction of the scientific method to those iignoramuses--such as a teaching assistant I had in a biology class in college--who believe that it is necessary to have a time machine to learn the truth about the past. There was a very good spoof story that appeared some years ago, probably for April Fools Day.

It said that scientists had found a way to recover snippets of background sounds, including conversation, from the fine scratches left on the surface of ancient pottery as it had turned on the potter's wheel -- sort of like a primitive wax cylinder recording. Wouldn't that be fun if it worked? Can you explain the history of your experience with the pronunciations of "err"? How does PPS fit in? When I have time to think about it, yes.

It's not something I've been doing for very long. But in isolation it's really difficult to preserve the non-airness, the merry-vowel-ness, of "err" since it's a monosyllable. There's no problem with "error", which of course has the merry vowel and is nothing like "airer". You know who you are, guys! But it's not easy. Then again, how often does anyone say "err"?

Sometimes I really envy Rightpondians. You think? So much so that when I saw a headline about Michael Jordan's return to basketball, entitled "To Air Is Human", I had to think about it to figure out what they were getting at.

Why "Xerox" is pronounced as "Zirox"? Jean Stax. Reply to author. Report message as abuse. Show original message. Either email addresses are anonymous for this group or you need the view member email addresses permission to view the original message.

Can somebody explain this phenomenon, please. Joona I Palaste. Spehro Pefhany. Matti Lamprhey. Donna Richoux. Tony Cooper. The word is pronounced "zearocks".

John O'Flaherty. John Varela. On Tue, 1 Jan , jean Richard Fontana. Would you pronouncd it Eksox". R H Draney. Steve MacGregor.

On 1 Jan , st Pierre Jelenc. Steve Hayes. Robert Bannister. Richard Fontana wrote:. Apropos of nothing, another commecial -ox, clorox, is an amalgam "chlorine" and "sodium hydroxide,". Xerox comes from xerography, but the -ox ending, I guess, means nothing. Reinhold Rey Aman. R H Draney wrote:. Apurbva Chandra Senray.

But other than that, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I've never heard either of those words pronounced with anything other than a Z sound. Where the hell are you hearing people say Exerox? I've never heard any of the words you complain about pronounced as anything other than a Z sound and that's zee not zed.

Aside from x-ray and a few other examples where "x" stands for something else, like X-Files or Xbox , I've only heard the "zee" sound you're speaking of. And since I'm an American, you'd of thought I'd heard something like that by now. We stuck with the original, the rest of the English-speaking world changed.

Xylene is definitely "zI-lene" not "zee-lene". That "I" in "zI-lene" is a capital I,, not an l. This would be easier if you people would just learn Arpabet or something.

Excession doesn't mean "zee" with the vowel sound, just "zzzz" with no leading vowel. And I've only heard xylophone and Xavier pronounced that way. And since Xavier is a proper name, its spelling and its pronunciation can be a bit funky. After all, few people pronounce Caitlin "correctly". It's pronounced "kathleen" quote: The abomination XMAS X as a shorthand for "christ" comes from the church , you know? You want weird? Listen to German speakers pronounce words with initial X. It's "ks".

So "Xena" is "ksena" and "Xerox" is "kseroks". It's more regular. Ask Lady Godiva how to say her name. The nice Germans.

Who are these ersatz Americans of which you speak, the Lounge can sic some Grammar Nazis on them. I pronounce xylophone as Zylophone and Xavier as EXavier. Yes, the people who go to Xavier University actually do pronounce it as EXavier. Well by writing out "ZEE" instead of "z" or as you write it, it looks like he is saying that it should be with a "zee" sound. It's pronounced "kathleen" seriously? That's awesome! Can someone give me an example? In Pulp Fiction, there's a character named Zed who happened to die in the movie.

In an ars thread a while back, an Englishman wrote "Z's dead, baby, Z's dead. It's the Gaelic version. Though it's really closer to 'katleen' than "kathleen". Like "seamus" is actually just "james", but Gaelicized. Watch Brazil. That's intersting. But if you aren't of Gaelic background, wouldn't Caitlin just be kate-lin?

Also, how do you pronounce XaiaX? It is pronounced 'zuylophone', not 'EXylophone' Peer, its not a zooylophone, its a zylophone. Stoopid english language. Couldn't have just stuck with the conquering french, could ya? Had to mix the French and German languages, and keep the worst of each.

This thread is X-treme! Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 7 months ago. Active 9 years, 9 months ago. Viewed 59k times. I've seen a lot of words use an X but be pronounced with a Z. Mitch Hedberg put it best: Xylophone is spelled with an X, that's wrong, xylophone's zzzz, X?

So why is X used like this and where did it start? Improve this question. Kredns Kredns 1 1 gold badge 3 3 silver badges 8 8 bronze badges. I saw this question and was bent on coming over here to quote Mitch Hedberg.

Great work! I don't have a serious answer Yes, the prononciation of X definitely has to bi corrected. Everi uthur wuurd in inglish is pronaunsd sao ladjikally, sao itts ounli thu X laft to fikks. Add a comment.