From: David Lubkin (lubkin@unreasonable.com)
Date: Sat Dec 04 1999 - 08:35:45 MST
On 12/4/99, at 8:49 AM, Technotranscendence wrote:
>> Her design was essentially octopi.
>
>Octopodes! The word comes from Greek not Latin roots.:):):)
"octopus" and "octopod" are different words. Octopus refers
to genus Octopus; octopod refers to the order or suborder
Octopoda, which includes both octopi and paper nautili.
The plural of octopod is octopods. The two dictionary plurals
for octopus are octopuses and octopi.
Both words have the same etymology. My dictionary reports
that they came to us from Greek through Neo-Latin. "Octopi"
is accepted usage because of this stop-over in Latin.
-- David Lubkin, counter-pedant.
(Or perhaps bargain-counter-pedant.)
(Any devotees of P.D.Q. Bach?)
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