Mazille wrote:

worldslaziestbusker wrote:


What's your line of work, if I may be so bold to ask.

Evolving wrote:Octopod, like tripod, would be the normal way of forming an English word from a third declension Greek (or Latin) noun: using the stem rather than the nominative.

Now back to Maz's question, which interests me strangely too.

Spearthrower wrote:

Evolving wrote:Octopod, like tripod, would be the normal way of forming an English word from a third declension Greek (or Latin) noun: using the stem rather than the nominative.

Now back to Maz's question, which interests me strangely too.

There are rules.... in English!?! Why didn't anyone tell me!

Animavore wrote:I'm on a computer now. I word searched a PDF of The Ancestor's Tale. No find of octopod. In fact, he uses octopuses numerous times.

I must've dreamt it.

Animavore wrote:I read it somewhere dammit!

worldslaziestbusker wrote:My boss worked at an aquaculture facility where disappearing fish were blamed on staff. Indignant and blamelss blamees set up a camera to trap the thief, and found out it was the resident octopus, getting out of its own tank, feasting, and returning to its home, closing lids on the way. This poor sucker died when, on a hot summer day, the cooling system shut down. It was found at the doorway to the aqaurium, where it had been trying unsuccessfully to wedge itself under the door in an attempt to reach the outside world and cool, tasty freedom. Not bad for a short lived sack of muscle whose closest relatives on the family tree are snails.

HughMcB wrote:

worldslaziestbusker wrote:My boss worked at an aquaculture facility where disappearing fish were blamed on staff. Indignant and blamelss blamees set up a camera to trap the thief, and found out it was the resident octopus, getting out of its own tank, feasting, and returning to its home, closing lids on the way. This poor sucker died when, on a hot summer day, the cooling system shut down. It was found at the doorway to the aqaurium, where it had been trying unsuccessfully to wedge itself under the door in an attempt to reach the outside world and cool, tasty freedom. Not bad for a short lived sack of muscle whose closest relatives on the family tree are snails.

Octopuffleupaguses can leave water?

HughMcB wrote:

worldslaziestbusker wrote:My boss worked at an aquaculture facility where disappearing fish were blamed on staff. Indignant and blamelss blamees set up a camera to trap the thief, and found out it was the resident octopus, getting out of its own tank, feasting, and returning to its home, closing lids on the way. This poor sucker died when, on a hot summer day, the cooling system shut down. It was found at the doorway to the aqaurium, where it had been trying unsuccessfully to wedge itself under the door in an attempt to reach the outside world and cool, tasty freedom. Not bad for a short lived sack of muscle whose closest relatives on the family tree are snails.

Octopuffleupaguses can leave water?

Evolving wrote:Incredibly useful contribution: it's definitely not "octopi".

A pedantically correct plural, in line with the original classical Greek, would be "octopodes" (four syllables); but that's just silly, so there is no alternative to "octopuses", really.

Like omnibuses.