# Newsflash, all Octopuses decended from a pokemon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948 "2008-11-09T22:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/1 "2008-11-09T22:50:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Many of the world’s deep-sea octopuses evolved from a common ancestor that still exists in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean, a study has shown. > > Researchers suggest that the creatures evolved after being driven to other ocean basins 30 million years ago by nutrient-rich and salty currents. [Really cute little fellow too](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7715741.stm), [see](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/sci_nat_enl_1226160870/html/1.stm) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/2 "2008-11-09T23:26:58Z")
Oh my god, what an adorable little fetusy-looking octopus! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/3 "2008-11-09T23:28:43Z")
It’s CUTE! The top photo looks like it has a little face. It almost makes me feel bad about eating octopi. Almost. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/4 "2008-11-09T23:40:24Z")
GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY! That **does** look like a pokemon! ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/5 "2008-11-09T23:44:25Z")
Awww… who’s a shallow-water species endemic to the Southern Ocean? You are, yes you are! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/6 "2008-11-09T23:54:43Z")
Aha. The evidence that all octopuses evolved from one species that still exists, disproves evolution! -Or that’s what someone will probably already be arguing, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/7 "2008-11-10T04:19:36Z")
One octopus, two octopods, or two octopodes. It’s Greek, not Latin. Slinks off to be pedantic elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/8 "2008-11-10T04:26:48Z")
> [@The\_Punkyova](#): > > One octopus, two octopods, or two octopodes. It’s Greek, not Latin. > Slinks off to be pedantic elsewhere. > **[Octopus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Terminology)** > > (traditional) > See § Evolution for families > An octopus (pl.: octopuses or octopodes\[a\]) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (/ɒkˈtɒpədə/, ok-TOP-ə-də). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, an octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beaked mouth at the centre point of the eight limbs.\[b\] An octopus can radically deform its shape, enabling it to... > [@](#): > > There are three forms of the plural of octopus; namely, octopuses, octopi, and octopodes. Currently, octopuses is the most common form in the UK as well as the US; octopodes is rare, and octopi is often objected to.[24] > > The Oxford English Dictionary (2004 update[25]) lists octopuses, octopi and octopodes (in that order); it labels octopodes “rare”, and notes that octopi derives from the mistaken assumption that octōpūs is a second declension Latin noun, which it is not. Rather, it is (Latinized) Greek, from oktṓpous (ὀκτώπους), gender masculine, whose plural is oktṓpodes (ὀκτώποδες). If the word were native to Latin, it would be octōpēs (‘eight-foot’) and the plural octōpedes, analogous to centipedes and mīllipedes, as the plural form of pēs (‘foot’) is pedes. In modern, informal Greek, it is called khtapódi (χταπόδι), gender neuter, with plural form khtapódia (χταπόδια). > > Chambers 21st Century Dictionary[26] and the Compact Oxford Dictionary[27] 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). > > Fowler’s Modern English Usage states that “the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses,” and that octopi is misconceived and octopodes pedantic. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/9 "2008-11-10T04:32:34Z")
Megaleledone setebos, I choose you! Hmmm… it does have a nice ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/10 "2008-11-10T04:42:45Z")
> [@The\_Punkyova](#): > > One octopus, two octopods, or two octopodes. It’s Greek, not Latin. > Slinks off to be pedantic elsewhere. You are wrong, it is English and we hammered this out in detail in a prior thread. [Proper Greek pluralization, should it trump over 100 years of common English usage?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384079&highlight=Octopi) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/11 "2008-11-10T05:45:30Z")
So where does Cthulhu fit into the family tree? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/12 "2008-11-10T14:24:51Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > : > > Originally Posted by The Punkyova > > One octopus, two octopods, or two octopodes. It’s Greek, not Latin. > > Slinks off to be pedantic elsewhere. > > You are wrong, it is English and we hammered this out in detail in a prior thread. > Proper Greek pluralization, should it trump over 100 years of common English usage? **The Punkova** is quite right, as I pointed out long ago, before that thread. as the OED says, you can use _octopodes_ or _octopuses_. But _octopi_ (as **Johnny L.a.** has it )has no justification, and is as wrong as _stewardi_. Sorry, Johnny. No offense. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/13 "2008-11-10T14:35:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > OED says, you can use _octopodes_ or _octopuses_. \*. > > Sorry, Johnny. No offense. It may have been more common when I was growing up. Things I learned early tended to stick. The quoted part of the Wiki article says the OED does list ‘octopi’. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/14 "2008-11-10T14:37:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Punkova** is quite right, as I pointed out long ago, before that thread. as the OED says, you can use _octopodes_ or _octopuses_. But _octopi_ (as **Johnny L.a.** has it )has no justification, and is as wrong as _stewardi_. > > Sorry, Johnny. No offense. You are incorrect, \*octopi \*is acceptable though it came from false logic. Beside \*\*The Punkyova \*\*is also not accepting _octopuses_ which is the prefered usage. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/15 "2008-11-10T14:53:49Z")
> [@](#): > > You are incorrect, octopi is acceptable though it came from false logic. Not according to the OED. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/16 "2008-11-10T15:04:20Z")
Holy crap, can we hijack a thread any faster with our grammatic pedantry? That octopus-thingy is absofreakinlutely adorable! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/17 "2008-11-10T15:15:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not according to the OED. YMMV. Please, read through the thread I linked. I covers most aspects of the debate pretty thoroughly. **Johnny L.A.** used an acceptable but not the prefered. You also wrote that \*\*The Punkyova \*\*was correct when the OED itself supports _octopuses_ showing he was wrong by almost any standard. Pedants should really verify they are actually correct before posting. We need a new message board corollary to Gaudere’s law that states “Pedants posting corrections and objections are wrong more often than not.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/18 "2008-11-10T15:25:05Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > Holy crap, can we hijack a thread any faster with our grammatic pedantry? > > That octopus-thingy is absofreakinlutely adorable! Okay - How about another form of pedantry all together? The article states _Megaleledone setebos_ is the ancestor of all **deep water** octopodes (or whatever), not all octopuses (or whatever). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/19 "2008-11-10T16:58:56Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > Holy crap, can we hijack a thread any faster with our grammatic pedantry? Grammatic_ **al.** _ ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948/20 "2008-11-10T19:10:41Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Okay - How about another form of pedantry all together? The article states _Megaleledone setebos_ is the ancestor of all **deep water** octopodes (or whatever), not all octopuses (or whatever). Now, see, arguing the facts of the article is not a hijack. And I had noticed that too. But mostly, I still think they’re cute, regardless. 😃 [QUOTE=Cervaise] Grammatical. [/quote] But that is a nitpick and a hijack all rolled into one post.😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-all-octopuses-decended-from-a-pokemon/471948.md?page=2)