How to Pronounce ‘Pterodactyl’

For those who missed this lesson in grade school

Image: Pixabay

Ahh, the magnificent Pterodactyl. Nature’s extinct air-dinosaur from 200 million years ago. They touched our hearts in grade school, and scratched at our souls in Jurassic Park.

But how do you actually pronounce the word? Rummaging through the annuls of etymology — and consulting with my drunk cousin who watched part of a History Channel documentary — I present to you:

A Seven-Part Guide to the Many Mispronunciations of ‘Pterodactyl’

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A classic mistake. People often confuse the winged fear bird with Bram Stoker’s horrifying 19th-century novel.

This one is more obscure, but sometimes people have a glass of wine or four before trying to pronounce “Pterodactyl.”