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Old 12-15-2009, 08:03 PM   #11
jinx
Come on, cat.
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area
Posts: 7,013
Quote:
No, I'm good. I used the proper plural for more than one octopus.
Orly?

Quote:
wiki
The term octopus, pronounced /ˈɒktəpʊs/, is from Greek ὀκτάπους (oktapous), "eight-footed",[29][30] with plural forms: octopuses /ˈɒktəpʊsɪz/, octopi /ˈɒktəpaɪ/, or octopodes /ɒkˈtɒpədiːz/. Currently, octopuses is the most common form in the US as well as the UK; octopodes is rare, and octopi is often objectionable.[31]


The Oxford English Dictionary (2004 update[32]) lists octopuses, octopi and octopodes (in that order); it labels octopodes "rare", and notes that octopi derives from the mistaken assumption that octōpūs is a second declension Latin noun, which it is not. Rather, it is a Latinization of Greek third-declension masculine oktṓpous (ὀκτώπους, 'eight-foot'), plural oktṓpodes (ὀκτώποδες). If the word were native to Latin, it would be octōpēs, plural octōpedes, after the pattern of pēs ('foot'), plural pedēs, analogous to "Centipede"[33]. The actual Latin word for octopus and other similar species is polypus, from Greek polępous (πολύπους, 'many-foot'); usually the inaccurate plural polypī is used instead of polypodēs.
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