Thus spake Karsten M. Self ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > on Wed, Oct 22, 2003 at 06:59:35PM +0100, Pigeon ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > On Wed, Oct 22, 2003 at 07:15:30AM -0700, Tom wrote: > > > > > > My personal pet peeve is: > > > http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=octopi > > > oc?to?pus ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kt-ps) > > > n. pl. oc?to?pus?es or oc?to?pi (-p) > > > > > > Octopus is greek. The correct plural is octopuses damn it! > > > > ... so shouldn't it be 'octopedes' IIRC? Haralambos? > > hexadecipus
The "Greek" plural would be octopodes. But the word is English, so the correct, non=-pedantic plural is octopuses. (See Eric Partridge's Usage and Abusage for more on pretentious plurals) -- |Deryk Barker, Computer Science Dept. | Music does not have to be understood| |Camosun College, Victoria, BC, Canada| It has to be listened to. | |email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | |phone: +1 250 370 4452 | Hermann Scherchen. | -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
