Octopuses - our friends in the ocean

Do you like octopuses? I think that octopuses are very nice. They have many very long arms so they would probably give the most wonderful hugs, and also they would probably be quite good at juggling.

Here are some cool pictures of octopuses:






Do have any cool octopus stories which you would like to share, or perhaps some more pictures? Have you ever met an octopus in real-life? I have not. Are they friendly?

As wondeful as their hugs would be, they would be cold and slimy and crushing too. Octopuses are nice, I like their dedication to their offspring, their problem-solving skills and logical thinking (no banking crisis if Octopuses were in charge!) and of course the fact that the collect shiny objects on the seabed and make little "gardens" out of them.

I'd like to be
under the sea
in an octopus's garden
in the shade...

Ahh, the halcyon days...

Incidently, when I was in Turkey my girlfirend was in the sea. Suddenly someone shouts that there was an octopus in the bay. All the locals ran in, hoping to kill it and sell it to a local restraunt. My girlfriend, who isn't a particlarly confident swimmer swam out of the water faster than any Olympic swimmer ever could in the opposite direction to the locals! Good times, good times.

Octopuses are smart, sure, but everyone knows Cuttlefish are AWESOME.

A wtf topic, but, I guess it's legit. :/
maybe.

But anyways, I do like Octopuses. They are my favorite sea creature. X3
Funny, thinking about that, I should be more into Octillery.

Octopuses scare me. BUT they aren't as scary as giant squid.

Forget octopuses.

Their cousin, the squid, have much better eyes than us, and I hate them just for that.
The only reason they have a chance to be cool is because the mighty Cthulhu grants it.

Octopi (the plural of octopus? ...maybe?) are very awesome! So is Octillery~
I bet they could be a one man band, or circus...

Ahem, in seriousness, this is a strange topic. Awesome, but strange.

Reina said:

Octopi (the plural of octopus? ...maybe?) are very awesome! So is Octillery~
I bet they could be a one man band, or circus...

Ahem, in seriousness, this is a strange topic. Awesome, but strange.

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"Octopi" is actually incorrect. :P

Octopuses are cool, though... the way they can fit through tiny spaces is pretty gosh darn awesome. :D

In some cultures octopuses are thought to have 8 legs rather than 8 arms. The 'pus' part of their name even means 'foot'.

I've seen some in aquariums, but none in the wild, thankfully. They're very strange looking creatures.

I have a thing for Octopi as well as their cousins, squid and cuddle fish. I find them really interesting and cute in their on little way. I also hear that they are very intelligent.

I doubt they're friendly per se but I also doubt they have any inclination to harm humans... I've always seen them as rather peaceful creatures, a lesser predator that feeds on small, hard fish (at a guess, else why would they have such a beak). Its lack of a skeletal structure doesn't really make it apt for much, I have to wonder how something evolved like that...

Yuoaman said:

"Octopi" is actually incorrect. :P

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Octopi used as the plural form of octopus is hypercorrect because -us → -i is the rule for forming plurals of originally-masculine nouns of the Latin second declension, whereas octopus actually derives from Ancient Greek, and to be consistent with its etymology has the plural form octopodes.​

ಠ_ಠ

Cassino said:

Octopi used as the plural form of octopus is hypercorrect because -us → -i is the rule for forming plurals of originally-masculine nouns of the Latin second declension, whereas octopus actually derives from Ancient Greek, and to be consistent with its etymology has the plural form octopodes.​

ಠ_ಠ

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plurals are fun, but isn't the only acceptable plural for them "octopuses"?

I think octopuses are pretty deadly since they destroy ships and what not.

Zet said:

plurals are fun, but isn't the only correct English term for them octopuses?

I think octopuses are pretty deadly since they destroy ships and what not.

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Yes they are correct, but most people (aka grammar nazis and teachers) frown upon that. There are very few, if any grammatical rules that are one hundred percent concrete. Octopi is the correct plural form of Octopus, just as Cacti is the correct plural form of Cactus.

Other weird plurals:

Radius -> Radii
Phenomenon -> Phenomena
Foot -> Feet
Fish -> Fish

:3

Octopi suck, quite literally. But in all honesty, I do not enjoy them. D:

Fried squid tasted much better then fried octopus. So I would have to say no, unless they can change and learn to be more tasty when they die. :)

Zet said:

plurals are fun, but isn't the only acceptable plural for them "octopuses"?

I think octopuses are pretty deadly since they destroy ships and what not.

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Nooo, that is the kraken.
*cough*GIANT SQUID*cough cough*

Zet said:

plurals are fun, but isn't the only acceptable plural for them "octopuses"?

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Officially accepted perhaps, but generally acceptable no.

From Wikipedia:
Currently, octopuses is the most common form in the US as well as the UK; octopodes is rare, and octopi is often objectionable.

The Oxford English Dictionary (2008 Draft Revision) lists octopuses, octopi and octopodes (in that order); it labels octopodes "rare", and notes that octopi derives from the "apprehension" that octōpūs is a second declension Latin noun, though it is not.

Chambers 21st Century Dictionary and the Compact Oxford Dictionary list only octopuses, although the latter notes that octopodes is "still occasionally used"; the British National Corpus has 29 instances of octopuses, 11 of octopi and 4 of octopodes.

Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary lists octopuses and octopi, in that order; Webster's New World College Dictionary lists octopuses, octopi and octopodes (in that order).

Folwer's Modern English Usage states that "the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses," and that octopi is misconceived and octopodes pedantic.

In short: it's octopuses

But let us not get bogged down with semantics, friends.

25.13272 = Octopi. Tell me when you understand.

I like octopuses, what with them changing colors, and the tentacles and stuff.
Even octopuses are not without desires, and apparently one of them is to become famous like squids and Cthulu.