What the hell is a Nezz?

[Dire 51]

Due to my current living arrangement, I get to interact with the children of the woman my family and I share our house with (two boys, ages 11 and 14) and their friends every other week. The older boy, Ian, and his friends are into videogames... mostly the new consoles and handhelds, but they have an appreciation for the older games as well (in fact, I've gotten Ian and his group of friends completely hooked on the Gradius series, but that's another story entirely).

A while back, Ian and one of his friends were asking me about some of the games I owned, and I brought up the NES. Now I always refer to it as the NES, by actually saying all three letters in turn (enn-eee-ess). When I mentioned it to them, though, they both gave me kind of a blank look. That puzzled me, as Ian and I had discussed a couple of the games for the NES before, and I said as much to him. At that point he said "oh, you mean the Nezz."

Nezz?

Now it was my turn to give him the blank look. "What the hell is a Nezz?" I asked. He then explained to me that that was what he and apparently all of the kids his age that play games and know about the NES, at least in his school, call it. He also said that they call the SNES the Snezz.

I was kind of dumbfounded at this point. How in the world had they come up with that? Turns out that none of them knew that NES and SNES were acronyms for anything, and they made up their own way to pronounce those two acronyms from there. I did my best to set them straight on the whole issue, but I still hear Nezz and Snezz being tossed around here from time to time, especially by the younger boy nowadays.

What I'm wondering... has anyone here heard anyone (younger gamers in particular) refer to the NES and SNES as the Nezz and Snezz, or am I the only one that has?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

They may have actually been asking you for a Turkish pop singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nez). :guitar:

[Dire 51]

They may have actually been asking you for a Turkish pop singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nez). :guitar:

I dunno... somehow, I don't think so. LOL

[RugalSizzler]

What the hell is a Nezz?

Well for starters I am dissapointed that you used the word Hell in front of your children

Second cross reference Nezz with Nintendo and after that just type in Nezz and you will get some pretty art pictures of some woman and a art page with a mp3.

[thegardentool]

Well for starters I am dissapointed that you used the word Hell in front of your children

I could understand more if he said "fuck". Hell is thrown away all too often these days especially on the televangelist programs. I heard my parents say much worse in the front of me. Actually the other day, I met with my stepfather for lunch and he told me a story about going to the store and he called somebody a "fuck nut" for whipping in and out of traffic or something. My youngest sister, 13, asked him in the store what a "fuck nut" was. Ah, that was a nice laugh over lunch.

[Nesmaster]

Lots of people on Xbox Live call me Nezzmaster too... Personally it's pronounced Ness to me.

[Mayhem]

Now it was my turn to give him the blank look. "What the hell is a Nezz?" I asked. He then explained to me that that was what he and apparently all of the kids his age that play games and know about the NES, at least in his school, call it. He also said that they call the SNES the Snezz.

First person to use "snezz" over here in the UK was a female presenter called Violet Berlin on the gaming TV show "Bad Influence" in the early 90s. And it's stayed ever since. Most people I know here, even those from the 80s and before who lived the era, use the terms "nezz" and "snezz" to describe Nintendo's first two home consoles, not "en-ee-es" or "es-en-ee-es". Have to admit it's a far easier and quicker way to say the names!

Doubtful that your younger friends would have seen our show, so I guess they came up with the same thing on their own accord! Hell, I use "nezz" and "snezz" myself because it's ingrained now...

[idrougge]

I have always pronounced them "ness" and "sness".

[FlufflePuff]

I've never heard nezz or snezz. Personally, we always used N-E-S and Super N-E-S. Never said S-N-E-S though. Don't know why.

[Dire 51]

Well for starters I am dissapointed that you used the word Hell in front of your children
Who said I said it in front of my kids? I didn't. And even if I did, so what? As far as profanity goes, that's pretty mild.

Mayhem - that's pretty interesting. You're right, they've probably never seen the show, but you never know... I'll have to ask.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I've always referred to them as Zippy and George.

[Dire 51]

I've always referred to them as Zippy and George.
LOL

I'd tell you what I heard my younger brother call the NES once, but I don't know if this thread could handle that kind of profanity. X_x I will say that I'm glad there were no children around when he said it... you know, besides him. LOL

[DarthKur]

That's odd. I've never heard anyone refer to either console by other than pronouncing the actual letters.
"Zippy and George" I got a good chuckle out of that. LOL

[Lady Jaye]

We always said the Nintendo or Nin. For the SNES, it was the Super Nin.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I have always pronounced them "ness" and "sness".

Yes, but you're a Swedish weirdo. BORK BORK BORK! *hides*

Down here, it was always Nintendo and Super Nintendo, or just the Super.

[KREATIVEassassin]

I've only ever heard someone call it a Ness in person once, and it was a 30+ year old guy I work with. However, I have read it quite a bit over at GameFAQs and it drives me nuts. Ness and Nezz both sound completely ridiculous to me.

[Pantechnicon]

In my own head I say ness or sness, but I've never heard any of those others out loud: nezz, ness, sness or snezz. I've only heard En-ee-ess or ess-en-ee-ess.

I can sort of see where a young'un today might think a single "s" at the end of a word always means a soft sibilant sound, That's obviously not the case, but bear in mind that we live in a country where kids think a sentence such as "I could of been alot nicer." is grammatically correct.

Maybe they were thinking of the Nazz?

http://www.newkadia.com/Covers/M/N/Nazz/nazz1.jpg

@RugalSizzler: You're the last person I expect to criticize someone based on what they say or how they say it.

[Gentlegamer]

It's pronounced "Nintendo" and "Super Nintendo."

[Mayhem]

Actually you'll find it's pronounced "throat warbler mangrove"...

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

No, no, I have it here...it's "Hyenas - Any of several large strong nocturnal carnivorous Old World mammals (family Hyaenidae) that ususally feed as scavengers."


Maybe they were thinking of the Nazz?

http://www.newkadia.com/Covers/M/N/Nazz/nazz1.jpg
That's not the Nazz, *THIS* is the Nazz:
http://singersong.homestead.com/files/Praise_the_Lord.jpg

I hate people who speak in acronyms. I don't even like hearing people say "PS3."


...word is bondage...

[Flack]

Down here, it was always Nintendo and Super Nintendo.

Ditto.

[walrusmonger]

Always Nintendo or Super Nintendo here as well.

When I was working in a crappy game store, ALL of the young kids that would see the section of NES games, would refer to them as "WOW, those NESS games are sooo old." Never heard of snezzzz or snesss, but I attribute the "ness" mainly to smash brothers being something these kids grew up with, and ness being a character.

It annoyed me dearly to hear it called "ness"

[OdSquad64]

We always called it Nintendo and Super Nintendo. I never even realized it actually said "Entertainment System" on the console until I was about 13. Often times to clarify I will say Regular Nintendo. Now that I see NES and SNES, I've started saying Ness and Sness because I'm a firm believer in pronouncing all acronyms that can possibly be pronounced, regardless of whether or not they should be; for example at school I pronounce NJROTC (injhrotck), FBLA (fuhbla), ITGS (itgus), etc.

anyway, back to the Nezz pronunciation, does it actually make a "z" sound, like in buzz or Rizzuto? If so, I'd have to ask if these people come from households that speak only English?

[ubikuberalles]

In my own head I say ness or sness, but I've never heard any of those others out loud: nezz, ness, sness or snezz. I've only heard En-ee-ess or ess-en-ee-ess.

I can sort of see where a young'un today might think a single "s" at the end of a word always means a soft sibilant sound, That's obviously not the case, but bear in mind that we live in a country where kids think a sentence such as "I could of been alot nicer." is grammatically correct.

Maybe they were thinking of the Nazz?

http://www.newkadia.com/Covers/M/N/Nazz/nazz1.jpg

@RugalSizzler: You're the last person I expect to criticize someone based on what they say or how they say it.

D'oh! I was hoping to post the first Nazz pic!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/ubikuberalles/photos%20for%20dp%20site/2007/nazz.jpg

Back on topic I either call it the N-E-S, the S-N-E-S or the Nintendo.

[Damaramu]

Another vote for Nintendo and Super Nintendo.

[Steve W]

I always referred to the NES as "the blinky piece of crap" and the SNES as "the slowdown machine". LOL

[Dire 51]

anyway, back to the Nezz pronunciation, does it actually make a "z" sound, like in buzz or Rizzuto? If so, I'd have to ask if these people come from households that speak only English?
Yes and yes.

[Shrooin]

Nintendo or Nes and Super Nintendo or SNES or Super NES

[Nicola]

In Italy, everyone says "Nez"

But the world Sega is also differently spoken, since reading it correcly would mean male mansturbation

[portnoyd]

I used to play my Sneeze all the time when I was high school. Yes, I heard someone call it that.

[DigitalSpace]

For me, it's:

-NES, Nintendo, or original Nintendo (depends on who I'm talking to). A couple of my friends say "8-bit Nintendo."
-Super NES or Super Nintendo
-N64. I rarely use "Nintendo 64." Same thing with the PS2.

[boatofcar]

Maybe they were thinking of the Nazz?

http://www.newkadia.com/Covers/M/N/Nazz/nazz1.jpg




This is the only Nazz I know about.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z3CQQ3NGL._AA240_.jpg

(Todd Rundgren's first band, doncha know!)

[k8track]

Back in the day, I always referred to the NES as the "Meow Meow Good Time Cigarette Making Machine". The SNES I called the "Assmaster 3000".

[Icarus Moonsight]

Interesting. The only place I've heard Ness/Nezz or Sness/Snezz is at the major chain game stores, spoken by the help. Didn't know it was more telling of their age then their distain for old tech and guys asking about it. :o

[Push Upstairs]

These kids today...how wrong they are.

The unofficial offical name for the NES back in the day was "Squiggles"

SNES? "Chaz"

Gameboy? "Geraldo"

[Red Hedgehog]

I had a friend who pronounced the systems as in "knees" and "sneeze". It didn't catch on with any of us. Most people I know used Nintendo or Super Nintendo, but when referring to the acronyms, En Ee Ess and Ess En Ee Ess were used.

[Wozza]

NES and SNES without the dots here, and yes I always knew what it stood for. :P

And See-ga while we are at it! :D

*runs*

[BocoDragon]

Sorry guys, but the Ness/N.E.S. divide probably isn't just how old you are, but how pretentious/proper/geeky you are. I know plenty of people who just say acronyms as words... almost as a way of showing disdain for the "proper" marketing of said product.

For example, Saturday Night Live is often referred to as the oh so cool "S.N.L.", but my friends and I hate this, so we just deride it as "Snull".

And on that note, my circle of friends grew up with the NES, and we all call it Ness, pretty much because we know better and don't care much. Same goes for the Sness.

But Nezz? Uh... you don't "take a pizz" do you?

EDIT: But back in the day... yeah, it was "Nintendo" and "Super Nintendo" or "The Super" like someone said above.