Octopus plural

[jack]

I thought this was settled in my mind but now I looked up Octopus plural on the internet again and this time it says Linnaeus made it up we can use whatever plural we like and "octopi" has been common since the beginning even if it wasn't grammatically faithful at the time...?

Maybe we should ban saying any of "octopuses" "octopi" and "octopodes" are any more correct than each other and let people use whichever they like??

Comments

[marnanel]

My guiding principle is that disputes should be resolved in favour of the way nouns mark for number in the language actually in use. I have never understood why those who complain about others not using Latin plurals in English sentences don't also complain about people not declining the noun according to the Latin case system.

[jack]

I've always said "-es" should basically always be OK, and getting fancier than that is ok (and sometimes necessary, like wearing a tie), but not insisting that that's the only "correct" way.

I think people have real difficulty accepting that there's not one "correct" way (usually what they're used to) -- people expect language to have a "the" right answer in all sorts of situations. And that makes it hard to say "well, both of these were sort of mistakes, but actually, either is fine!"

[marnanel]

Agreed entirely-- TMTOWTDI. This is why I said disputes should be resolved that way, where disputes exist. But I suppose what I really meant was that people should say what they please, and the only thing that really bothers me is people telling others that using -es is wrong.