this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024
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Memes

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 100 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] bhamlin@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

Octopodeez nuts

[–] theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Meron35@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Please don't beat your meat to octopodes

[–] theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Hey, we're not hurting anyone!!!

[–] Leviathan@lemmy.world 40 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It is octopodes. It's Greek and it follows the Greek pluralisation convention.

[–] Verito@lemm.ee 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Words brought into English can use English pluralisations, so you're not wrong if you say octopuses. I think Grammar Girl had a take on this maybe 7 or even 8 years ago by now. These days, I can't see myself getting worked up about it for the sheer fun of being pedantic like I used to.

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

It's not octopuses that octopodes corrects, it's octopi. Octopi is a Latin pluralization, and since the word is Greek and us to i isn't specifically American, I agree with you that octopuses is fine but not that octopi is fine.

[–] SaltyIceteaMaker@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago

Octopussy. Thank you very much.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 39 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Im_old@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

I knew there was going to be someone as ~~childish~~ funny as me in here!

[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 month ago

When a Roman family has their 16th child.

[–] Drusas@kbin.run 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Octopus, octopuses, and octopodes are correct. Octopi incorrect.

[–] Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Octopi is also correct. If anything, more correct than octopodes by virtue of popularity. Mismatching the language to the suffix does not a fake word make!

The downvoters are silly prescriptivists ;)

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago

In greek it would be incorrect, in english it's not worse than the others.

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As long as they’re penetrating a lady I don’t care what they are called.

[–] ReplicantBatty@lemmy.one 9 points 1 month ago

Ah, i see you are a man of culture as well.

[–] matrixrunner@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If you say ok-top-o-dees, you'd better be prepared to deliver this spiel at a moment's notice

HA! That video was really good. Extremely quick and to the point, great linguistics content, and funny to boot!

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Octopi is a hypercorrectism which doesn't make it wrong

[–] preussischblau@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 month ago

A hypercorrection based on a misunderstanding of the Latin declension for the word, at that.

[–] Gemini24601@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Neither are incorrect, that’s the point

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I just wanted to namedrop the technical term. Both are fine

[–] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My favorite hypercorrection (a hyperforeignism, if you like) is "habañero," and really stressing the "ñ" when you say it.

Except it's just "habanero," plain ol' "n." The confusion is presumably due to "jalapeño" having an accent.

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago

If you want a hyper anglizism: I'm German and after an interview, a colleague of mine talked about the candidates' "vibes". My boss didn't get it's English and once she did, she pronounced it like "wipes". b>p at the end of words is what German always does and v>w to make it sound English since German has the /v/ sound but not /w/. I don't think it's a common thing tho.

[–] maniel@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 month ago

Octopussies

[–] NorthWestWind@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Wait is seriously everyone in here wrong?

Guys it's:
OCTOPEOPLE

Inclusion, let's keep it up.

[–] Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I am the guy in the middle, except I'm telling people it's octopuses.

[–] Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You do have the benefit of being right though.

The word octopus is a classical Greek word that comes to English via Latin. The Greek plural is octopodes, the Latin plural is octopi. But we don't speak Latin or classical Greek. We speak English. Because octopus is the English word for octopus it follows the English rules for pluralization, which is to add "s" or "es" to the end of the word. Cases can be made why octopi and octopodes could be technically correct, but for English speakers octopuses is the most correct.

[–] Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I did something for work where I had to study up about it and instead of being angry it's just kind of a fun fact. I don't actually mind what people say, I think everyone understands what you mean regardless.

[–] kindenough@kbin.earth 4 points 1 month ago

Roger Moore would disagree.

[–] Sidhean@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Several of Octopus

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago
[–] null@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Why is octopi correct? Based on what?

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Because people use it, and if you say it everybody will understand without any ambiguity.

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[–] Zenjal@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Octopipuses?

[–] Cysioland@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

octopus - octopi
amogus - amogi
chungus - chungi

[–] msgraves@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

Imagine speaking correct English

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Btw is there a difference between people.and persons? I hear both being used but i grew up with people.

[–] lseif@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 month ago

people = a group

persons = a group of individuals

[–] RedditRefugee69@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Great question. When I hear people I think that’s used to draw attention to common relevant traits “people of England” for example. Persons is more a group of less related individuals or at least with less relevant similarities “persons of interest” for example

[–] ShortFuse@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

When I document code I have this problem with indices vs indexes.

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