this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
387 points (99.0% liked)
Memes
13027 readers
961 users here now
Post memes here.
A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.
An Internet meme or meme, is a cultural item that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. The name is by the concept of memes proposed by Richard Dawkins in 1972. Internet memes can take various forms, such as images, videos, GIFs, and various other viral sensations.
- Wait at least 2 months before reposting
- No explicitly political content (about political figures, political events, elections and so on), !politicalmemes@lemmy.ca can be better place for that
- Use NSFW marking accordingly
Laittakaa meemejä tänne.
- Odota ainakin 2 kuukautta ennen meemin postaamista uudelleen
- Ei selkeän poliittista sisältöä (poliitikoista, poliittisista tapahtumista, vaaleista jne) parempi paikka esim. !politicalmemes@lemmy.ca
- Merkitse K18-sisältö tarpeen mukaan
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The reason why the p in "pterodactyl" is silent is because the consonant cluster /pt/ isn't allowed as the initial part of a syllable
When words are borrowed into English but have consonant clusters like this, English simplifies the cluster (in this case, /pt/ becomes /t/)
However, if the consonant cluster is preceded by a vowel, it splits up and the first consonant becomes the coda (final part) of the preceding syllable
So while it might have been he-li-co-pter in Greek, it became he-li-cop-ter in English
This also explains the silent g in "phlegm" and why it's pronounced in "phlegmatic"
English sucks. I prefer the version where I pronounce the P
That's perfectly fine, as long as others understand you the exact was you pronounce it doesn't matter
I was just saying what tends to happen, not what always happens
TIL the g in phlegm is silent.
Darge tgo bge differgent?
Funny that pt isn't allowed but ph is allowed. Or maybe we should start to say "hlematic" 😜
That's because "ph" is a combination of two letters to make a single sound
Using the IPA, an alphabet designed for writing down sounds of words, where one sound tends to correspond to one letter, "phlegm" is /ˈflɛm/ and "phlegmatic" is /fleɡˈma.tɪk/