What is the plural form of Octopus?

[DeadWolfe]

I'm stumped.

 

[Math Is Hard]

It's "moose".

 

[Evo]

Moose...

 

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

Yup it's just plain old Moose.

"Oh look there is a bunch of Moose/Sheep/etc."

 

[neutrino]

Meese.

 

[berkeman]

Same as the plural of deer. Well, thematically anyway.

 

[Rach3]

Mice. ...[/color]

 

[berkeman]

Strange coincidence. Tonight we had a debate about what the plural of octopus is -- it took us a while to find a dictionary. I had everybody convinced it was octopi, until my wife found her (hidden) dictionary and proved that it is octupuses. Doh!

 

[scott1]

English:Mooses.
Binary:01001101 01101111 01101111 01110011 01100101 01110011
Leet:|\/|0053rz

 

[Rach3]

Strange coincidence. Tonight we had a debate about what the plural of octopus is -- it took us a while to find a dictionary. I had everybody convinced it was octopi, until my wife found her (hidden) dictionary and proved that it is octupuses. Doh!

Silly, it's both.

Inflected Form(s): plural -pus·es or oc·to·pi

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/octopus

 

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

I imagine the different plurals are for different english (Australian/English/American) I was always taught that things like platypus and octopus etc. turned to platypi and octopi for plural.

 

[Rach3]

I'm rather sure it was originally octopi inheriting the Latin declension, and octopuses was a bastardization. Some people would say adding the "es" makes it a standardization, because it agrees with some other plural forms. I call it bastardization.

 

[Rach3]

Why do they think that standardization makes language more accessible, I wonder. American-English speakers already take the path of least resistance.

 

[chronon]

I'm rather sure it was originally octopi inheriting the Latin declension, and octopuses was a bastardization.

pl. octopuses, (arch.) octopodes (octopi is wrong)

Some people would say adding the "es" makes it a standardization, because it agrees with some other plural forms. I call it bastardization.

Actually octopi is such a 'standardization'.

 

[Rach3]

http://www.bartleby.com/61/86/O0028600.html
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=54908&dict=CALD

Also agree with Webster, and disagree with Chambers. Eh, whatever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus
There's an order octopoda, and a genus octopus. Octopoda is already a plural form, a octopodes is a plural of a transliteration I guess. Who cares really. The question is - is the common name pluralized the same way as the genus?

From the first link above, this should settle it:

ETYMOLOGY: New Latin Octopus, genus name, from Greek oktpous, eight-footed : okt, eight; see okt(u) in Appendix I + pous, foot; see ped- in Appendix I.

(some symbols are not showing up in quote)

As for common usage:

Results 1 - 10 of about 796 for octopi
Results 1 - 10 of about 82 for octopodes

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=octopi&btnG=Search

 

[berkeman]

I'm rather sure it was originally octopi inheriting the Latin declension, and octopuses was a bastardization. Some people would say adding the "es" makes it a standardization, because it agrees with some other plural forms. I call it bastardization.

Oh baby. This should be good. Well, not good for the mairrage (sp?), but good overall. Wish me luck!

 

[Evo]

Lets standardize.

Octopus = octopuses

Moose = mooses

mouse = mouses

goose = gooses

 

[Brinx]

Heh.

Tooth, teeth.
Goose, geese.
Foot, feet.

and so:

Shoop, sheep.
Moose, meese.

also:

Mouse, mice.
Louse, lice.

and so:

House, hice.
Spouse, spice.

Langauge is so wonderfully inconsistent. :D

 

[Kurdt]

I thought octopi was what you got as a main course in a Greek restaurant.

On the serious note I was always taught octopi was the plural and the English language is a strange thing as it adds new words all the time including slang terms and and popular uncorrect terms. This makes the language very diverse and also full of tripe. It would never occur in most other languages. (spot the deliberate mistake)

 

[chronon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus

From lower down on that page

Fowler's Modern English Usage states that "the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses", and that octopi is misconceived and octopodes pedantic. Octopi derives from the mistaken notion that octōpūs is a second declension Latin noun, which it is not.

Maybe we should start using octopera on the basis of opus - opera .

 

[BobG]

Strange coincidence. Tonight we had a debate about what the plural of octopus is -- it took us a while to find a dictionary. I had everybody convinced it was octopi, until my wife found her (hidden) dictionary and proved that it is octupuses. Doh!

That's why trucks only carry one octupus at a time.

4 penguins perish in freak Texas truck accident - Octopus unhurt, exotic fish not as lucky en route to temporary home

Why hasn't Pengwino posted today?

 

[Danger]

(spot the deliberate mistake)

On the serious note

...[/color]

 

[berkeman]

That's why trucks only carry one octupus at a time.

4 penguins perish in freak Texas truck accident - Octopus unhurt, exotic fish not as lucky en route to temporary home

Why hasn't Pengwino posted today?

Notice how they don't even mention if the driver was hurt? Typical.

BTW, this part of the article was especially funny:

“There was another truck full of snakes and alligators that was an hour ahead of them, so luckily we didn’t have to deal with the alligators,” Buchanan said.

 

[Rach3]

From lower down on that page



Maybe we should start using octopera on the basis of opus - opera .

Oops! Octopera it is then.

 

[Chi Meson]

Do not fret Rach3, we'll get the wee bastards yet!

 

[BobG]

Notice how they don't even mention if the driver was hurt? Typical.

BTW, this part of the article was especially funny:

http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=5256451&nav=0w0v

Better? (At least they got around to mentioning the driver in the second to last sentence). It even has a picture (the creature under the sheet that had the life support removed looks pretty flat )

Edit: BTW, is 'pluaral' supposed to be plural for 'plural' or something?

 

[Math Is Hard]

http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=5256451&nav=0w0v

Better? (At least they got around to mentioning the driver in the second to last sentence). It even has a picture (the creature under the sheet that had the life support removed looks pretty flat )

Oh NO! That's terrible! They were going to one of my favorite places, Moody Gardens aquarium in Galveston. Poor critters.

 

[Rach3]

Edit: BTW, is 'pluaral' supposed to be plural for 'plural' or something?

Nope, plural is not plural, plural is plurals.

 

[Danger]

Nope, plural is not plural, plural is plurals.

All I know is that the breathing disorder is called 'pleuresy' because we have 2 lungs.

 

[star.torturer]

what about the fish (not fishes, that's blasphemy, and standardisation!)

Virus? (viri or viruses(standard))