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this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
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Science Memes
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Unlike "octopi". 🙇🏽♂️
Nope! Octopuses, octopuses, and octopi are all correct afaik
Wrong, sorry. Októpus is a Greek word that translates to “eight foot,” and pluralizing it via Latin has no etymological basis. "Acceptable/widely used" is in no way synonymous to "correct", let's not forget.
Not who you're responding to but I must vehemently disagree. In English, which doesn't have a centralized governing body, the correct way of pronouncing/spelling something depends on your intention and expected audience. If your intended audience is English speakers then the correct spelling is probably octopi or octopuses, whichever you believe will cause the least confusion/distraction (surely it varies regionally).
However, usually my intention is to portray my unfathomably superior knowledge and intellect, so the correct spelling/pronunciation in this case is: octopodes (which I think he had listed but ironically got 'corrected' to 'octopuses').
Modulating one's speech according to audience is not dialectic morphology, much less general etymology — it's a matter of scope.
You can use whatever you want, no argument there. Whether or not it comes off sounding semi-literate is more up to your audience and your own self-awareness than any "centralized governing body", citizen. 🙇🏽♂️🫣
"As with many modern scientific creature-names, it was coined in Modern Latin from Greek elements, so it might be allowed to partake of Latin grammar in forming the plural"
Literally from the link you provided. It was coined initially in the language of modern latin, from Greek roots, certainly, but the word objectively and literally comes from modern latin.