Brought to You by the Letter Z’

#reverb10 is asking:

Prompt: New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why?

My answer would be easy:

ZED.

“Zed” is the nickname my in-laws gave me when they met me.

It differentiated me from the OTHER Elizabeth that would eventually marry into their clan in a same summer. That Elizabeth was actually an ‘Elisabeth’ (“with a continental ess‘” my London-born father-in-law did drawl).

So they called me after the letter that made our named different.

Z.

Only in Canada (like all of the Commonwealth), the letter “Z” is pronounced:

Zed.

Which I love.

I had, after all, outgrown the babyish “Beth” of my youth.

I don’t much care for “Lizzy-Ho” — an accident of cell-phone abbreviation which became the beloved shortname my friend Frances calls me.

I get tired of answering: “Do you go by THAT? EEE-LIZZ-UUH-BETH?” As if itis some form of name torture. I am sure there are some potential friends who have heard my answer and looked at their watch after saying it a few times and just gave up..

And, I am just NOT a ‘Liz.’ Sure, I like the gays, but only one husband for me.

So Y Nt, U ask?

Simple answer: Mom won’t let me. My mom heard my brother-in-law refer to me as “Zed” at my wedding. She then leapt into the nearest grave, tossed out the coffin, and proceeded to roll around and around, shouting: SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO??

Mom isn’t much for cute names. The only reason they let me go by “Beth” when I was young was to control the nickname avalanche that ensues with a name like mine. Betsy/Betty/Bitsy for the old-lady, Hamptons set. Lizard-Breath for that certain awful fifth-grade time.

Yeah, I’d love to have a sassy, short name again that I like, one that suits me. I’m getting a bit bored of belaboring the syllables.

Any other suggestions?