Pronunciation of "Bichir"

[Dark Jester]

Just reading the card at the shop when I first saw them made me say bee-cheer in my head. Dunno. "ch" is a hard pair of letters, cause it can go different ways.

Generally if it hasd a vowel after it, it's usually not the Hard 'K' pronunciation. Cheerios, Cheese, Chisel, Chase, etc.

If it has a consonant after it, it's the Hard 'K'. Christmas, Chlorine, Chrome, etc.

Then you get the screwed up situations like Chaos, which leads us back to where we are now...

 

[elting44]

I go with Ba-sheer or Be-sheer. "biker" may also be right, move this to the Poly thread, see what their general consensus is.

 

[creepyoldguy]

To end all, Chuck Norris says "biker".

 

[eatingleg4peanut]

What's worse, the fact that it comes up every 3 months for people who don't know the answer...or the fact that you click on it every 3 months and complain about it?

people complain when people make threads that have been done before, people complain when you bump an old thread. just can't win can ya?

i'd always said bis her, now i know it's more commonly pronounced biker here

I like complaining about people complaining about complaining.

 

[Noto]

People say "biker" because they are used to "ch" in scientific names being pronounced as a hard c (as in cichlid). That is the correct pronunciation of "ch" in Greek or Latin names, but bichir is neither Greek nor Latin. As mentioned earlier, the original pronunciation is something like "buh sheer". The correct pronunciation is whichever one the person you are talking to can understand. I just call 'em dinosaur eels, like the PetsMart does.

 

[Lupin]

I like complaining about people complaining about complaining.

And if we didn't have repetitive topics, this forum would be paralyzed.

 

[thor meeki]

^^ I was just thinking the same, Lupin. ^^

Bicker, as the pronunciation, seems to be more on par for discussions like this. lol
For what it's worth, I call them bishers, & my gf calls them bit-chers.

 

[Rockbass6]

I say bish-ier, but usually just say polys or polypterus. Usually, if you say polys at a fish store the worker will walk over to the saltwater section and try netting coral. lol So the let me show you and point method works best for me.

 

[FLESHY]

If someone called one a "biker" in front of them I would probably laugh in their face. Not to be mean, but I just dont see how it could possibly be said that way.

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

i say bee-chir lol but everyone at my lfs says biker.