trichocereus

[qualia]

i was at the cactus shop today, and they called it a trike-soo-ree-us,

i've heard others call it it a trick-o-sir-ayus,

i call it a trike-o-sir-ayus

i've never actually heard anyone say po-tah-toe though,,

humph

[CβL]

Trick-o-ser-ee-us is how I say it, that's right isn't it? But the worst I've ever heard was the gardener saying pa-chan-oh-ee. Hehehe, I cringed every time I heard it.

[trucha]

Careful adherence to 'correct' pronunciation will frequently render many cactus people unable to understand the speaker.

Stearn's Botanical Latin points out that botanists and gardeners use one pronunciation of Latin and academicians/scholars (and medical professionals) employ another 'reformed' Latin pronunciation that is believed to be closer to the original.

MOST people, and most cactus people, mispronounce pachanoi. That gardener is actually closer than most of what is typically spoken.

It was named to honor the proper surname Pachano so should be pronounced according to Spanish language rules (ch as in cha-chal).

A point certain to keep things interesting is that all proper names employed in binomials are, according to Stearn, best pronounced the way they were spoken in the language they are from and not 'latinized' except for the very last syllable. Pretty cool that those words can come from Czech, Polish, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Catalan and a host of other languages.

Stearne's BEST comment on the subject, imho, "How they are pronounced really matters little provided they sound pleasant and are understood by all concerned."

[M S Smith]

Stearne's BEST comment on the subject, imho, "How they are pronounced really matters little provided they sound pleasant and are understood by all concerned."

 

Awesome, then I can keep saying Try-cho-sir-ay-us without scoffs and giggles.

~Michael~

[CβL]

Interesting, I did not know that it was originally pronounced like that.