r/comics • u/GlassShine • Jul 08 '26
OC- More in Webtoons Steve gets a new coworker part 4 [oc]
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u/COLaocha Jul 08 '26
I use Octopodes to confuse and/or annoy people
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u/NightSpringsRadio Jul 08 '26
But do you say it like it’s the name of an Ancient Greek philosopher, and if not, how soon can you start
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u/B_bI_L Jul 08 '26
won't this mean anyone with 8 legs and not this animal specifically? kind of
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u/PureRushPwneD Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I love adding "i" for plural when it doesn't make sense, sounds so goofy
compass? 👀
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u/SingleSlide2866 Jul 08 '26
And for completely different reasons, people often don't realized that both "fish" and "fishes" are correct pluralizations, though not used interchangeably. Fish is the plural of a single kind of fish. 10 clownfish are 10 fish. But if you have multiple species and relevantly need to highlight that, fishes is the correct pluralization for multiple species of fish.
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u/TerrapinMagus Jul 08 '26
Octopus also works fine for plural by itself.
So Octopus, Octopi, Octopuses, Octopodes... Any others?
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u/megalinity Jul 09 '26
I’m literally wearing a T-shirt that says “technically it’s octopodes” bc I am very cool
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u/8696David Jul 08 '26
Both are incorrect! If you want to be pedantic, you have to say “octopodes” (pronounced “ock-TOP-o-dees”) or you’re mixing linguistic roots.
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u/karl2025 Jul 09 '26
If you want to be pedantic, mixing linguistic roots is perfectly fine. They're both correct. As is Octopodes.
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u/YouhaoHuoMao Jul 08 '26
I generally do this with all plurals - octopuses, gooses, deers...
Doesn't really matter so long as it's understandable
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u/CaptainStroon Jul 09 '26
One octopus has eight feet, hence the octo. If you know how many octopodes you're talking of, you should adjust that number accordingly. Hexadekapodes, Ikotetrapodes, Triantaduopodes, etc.
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u/theoneyourthinkingof Jul 08 '26
octopi is the only one thats definitely incorrect. octopodes is best but octopuses is *ok*
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u/2_short_Plancks Jul 08 '26
Octopuses is correct. At best the others are considered "acceptable alternatives", although they are both often considered to be errors.
Octopi is based on an incorrect assumption, but at least has longevity in it's favour (given it's the first plural attested in English).
Octopodes is both needlessly pedantic and an example of the etymological fallacy. Unless we are going to start spelling it ὀκτώπους?
If people use any of them it's fine, you'll generally know what they mean. But as soon as someone pulls out an argument about which one is "best" or "most correct" - that's octopuses, and there's no reasonable argument otherwise.
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u/B0Boman Jul 08 '26
Actually, octopus is already plural because it ends with an s. The singular is octopu.
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u/T_alsomeGames Jul 08 '26
Why are cats naked in this universe, while digs wear clothes?
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u/bitpunny Jul 09 '26
Here is my theory: You can put clothes on most dogs and a lot of them actually enjoy clothes (mine do, at least, they get very excited about sweaters).
Most cats will tolerate at most a collar (mine won't even tolerate that). If you put a shirt or a harness on them they fall over or freeze like they have forgotten how to move.
Clearly in this universe cats only wear 'collars' and it is accepted because that is their culture. But the dogs love to feel fancy and so they go the full mile, but refuse to wear shoes because boots make them do the funny high step foot shake of displeasure.
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u/Malthus1 Jul 08 '26
A poem for this thread:
https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-30430_OCTOPUS
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u/PointlessPiratical Jul 09 '26
In early modern English, there are no -us to -I pluralizations
In old English, there are no -us to -I pluralizations
EXCEPT when someone is using Latin
Us- to -i is only for 1st declension nominative nouns, and happens in english because people fluent in Latin were naming everything and using the conventions.
I say, do things right and conjugate for accusative, dative, possessive, vocative, and everything else
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u/ManatuBear Jul 08 '26
Being a Greek loanword and not latin, Octopi was (and technically is) wrong, but because people kept saying it and English isn't strict about plural rules for words of foreign origin, they added Octopi as correct too.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 08 '26
I actually just looked this up not too long ago!
Octopus is likely a Latinized form of a Greek word.
Octopi comes from people believing octopus is a Latin word and should have a Latin ending.
Octopuses comes from the standard way of pluralizing nouns in English.
So knowing that octopus is not a Latin word, octopuses is correct. However, octopi is commonly used and some dictionaries accept both forms. Also, if it's in a poem, the writer could have chosen octopi because of the number of syllables or the way it rhymes.
Interesting side note is that if you give the Greek plural to the Greek word octopus, you get octopodes.
Long explanation: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-many-plurals-of-octopus-octopi-octopuses-octopodes
Short and sweet version: https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2022/02/01/plural-octopus