Zero

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Zero can be read in many different ways in British English for example:
Oh, nil, love, nought .
I know exactly when to use one or the other, my question is do Americans use it the same way as the British or they just use Zero?
Or Zero and love for tennis, or simply zero in all contexts.
Thank you.

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

Zero can be read in many different ways in British English for example:
Oh, nil, love, nought .
I know exactly when to use one or the other, my question is do Americans use it the same way as the British or they just use Zero?
Or Zero and love for tennis, or simply zero in all contexts.
Thank you.

As in British English, we use several words to express the concept of "zero" in U.S. English, although the usual choice depends on context. When reciting a list of digits, both "zero" and "oh" are common. For tennis scores we say "love". For other game scores we say "zero" or "nothing". The words "nil" and "nought" are uncommon in the U.S. as general words, although they may be used as part of the usual terminology in a specific domain (an academic discipline, a profession or trade, and so on). We also have many popular expressions to say "no", "none" or "nothing"; a couple of the common ones are "zip" and "zilch".

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by wrholt

We also have many popular expressions to say "no", "none" or "nothing"; a couple of the common ones are "zip" and "zilch".

How about "diddly squat"? There are a number of rude expressions as well, all with the format of "**** all".

[poli]

goose egg. Also there's the ethnic bupkis and (you should excuse this expression) ungatz.

[Awaken]

wrholt answered it well. zero and oh are used a lot with digits and scores.

The only time I hear "naught" used over here is "All for naught" as a variation on "all for nothing."

I rarely hear nil. The exception is on Sports TV. They really use every possible expression for the word "zero" to mix up the language.

In the end all are used over here and understand. When stating a score of 5-0:

It's five to zero.
It's five zero.
It's five nothing.
It's five nil.
It's five to oh.
It's five oh.
It's five to naught or It's five naught.

Separately: When stating a teams record, it is very common to say "They are five and oh" to signify 5 wins and zero losses.

All of these are my experiences. People in other parts of the country may feel differently.

[Rusty]

I believe saying 'oh' is by far the most-used pronunciation of a single 'zero' when Americans rattle off phone numbers, zip codes, area codes, times and a two-digit year prior to '10'.

My number is 'five-five-five, eight-nine-oh-two' (555-8902).
It's 'ten oh four' (10:04).
Anyone remember the show "Zoom"? "Send it to Zoom!"
That's 'zee-double-oh-em, Box three-five-oh, Boston, Mass, oh-two-one-three-four' (Zoom, Box 350, Boston, Mass, 02134)!
Area code 'three-oh-seven' (307) is the only code used in Wyoming.
Where were you on 'one-two-oh-three' (01-02-03)? That's January 2, 2003, in America (January second, two-thousand three).


"It's five zip" is more common than "It's five nil."

[CrOtALiTo]

I didn't remember as I could say Zero without mentioning it.

It's nine oh five A.M

Thank you for remember it again