Median values of the fwhm and equivalent width Wλ of the C iv 581 nm, O v 559 nm and 465 nm emission lines were derived from an extended statistical analysis of WC and WO stars (Norci et al. 2002; see Table 1). We find that the C iv equivalent width shows an increasing trend towards earlier WC subtypes, reaching a maximum value of 95 nm (± 32 %) for the Galactic WC4-6 stars, and decreases by about a factor of three in the hotter WO stars (Figure 1, left). The line appears about twice as strong in the LMC than in the Galactic WC4 stars, and the difference is particularly evident in the non-Galactic WO stars. Such an effect is absent in the O v 559 nm line, which smoothly increases towards WCE and WO stars, with no significant difference between Galactic and non-Galactic WC4 and WO stars. Thus this C anomaly is not an ionization effect; it is, therefore, probably due to a cause that selectively operates on C rather than on O. Different physical conditions in the winds of Galactic and non-Galactic stars, possibly related to the different initial metallicity Z, could be responsible for the anomaly.