Correct way to pronounce bichir?

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I'll go with Polypterus too.
 
I find that most LFS employees don't know what a "polypterus" is but do know what a "biker" is so that's how I pronounce it.
 
How about Fengädda = Fin Pike, the swedish common name for bichir...
 
I dunno tho, pronouncing it "biker" makes me think of sweaty old guys riding harleys with long chains to hit people with...i'll stick with bit-cher. I just hate it when the jerks at the lfs say, "OH, You mean to say Biker".....and im like..."No, I only have a 55 gallon aquarium, the average size biker is atleast 5 foot tall....."
 
beblondie;637773; said:
HY BICHIR?

When Europeans (French) discovered the genus Polypterus in 1809 it had already been known along the Nile since the time of the pharoahs. The local peoples referred to them as bichirs (unknown pronunciation and spelling). While unable to come up with an exact meaning for the word it was most likely a descriptive term (''whip'' has been suggested) for this type of fish.

The French most likely pronounced it as phonetically as possible to the orginal native word and came up with bee-sheer as a pronunciation and spelled 'bichir'. Since this would be the name of these fish for
several years until they were scientifically described and put into the proper family it became an accepted common name.

However the correct English pronunciation is up for grabs. Several dictionaries all have their own pronunciation including the below:
bee cher
beech er
bikir
biker
bercheer
bi cher
bir chir is common in England
Also known by the common name lobed fin pike,dinosaur eel.
The name Polypterus : poly=many + pterus=fins and is pronounced po-lyp'-terus.
Click to expand...

you go gurl
 
I have heard beacher, biker, and bi-sher. I go with Bi-sher. How do you pronounce perfluorooctanoic acid?
 
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