Daystar Clarion:
It's true.

QI told me so.

And Stephen Fry never lies.

This.

Also, did anyone else notice that in the second panel the sign says "occupy" instead of "octopi"?

Let he who is without squid cast the first stone.

Why does the banner say "Octopi" in the first frame and "Occupi" on the second one? Am I missing something?

If I recall correctly.
It's actually Octopods or Octopodes.

It's like me wishing people would stop misusing "decimate." Enjoy tilting at windmills, and best of luck.

Also, 'Octopi' sounds better.

Umm... actually...
Octopi and Octopuses are both valid.

It just depends on which you prefer
or maybe the context (not sure what context would rule out one or the other).

Trust me, I'm an English major... and an aspiring novelist/poet/videogame writer.

Is it 2nd declension or 3rd declension? If it's 3rd, then you're right and it should be "octopuses". But -i is also the Latin plural ending for the 2nd declension, and given that -us is the usual masculine 2nd declension ending, "octopi" would make more sense.

But even then, Wikipedia says that it's from Greek "octopous" (which would get Latinized as "octopus"), which is "octo+pous" and "pous" has the irregular stem "pod-" which would make "octopodes" the correct plural. It also makes the guess that, if the word were truly Latin, you would have "octopes/octopedes" since "pes" is the Latin word for foot.

Also, anyone trying to claim that history/etymology has anything to do with the prescriptive "correctness" of modern language, go look up the etymology of the word "nice."

(second-year linguistics specialist, bitch :D)
EDIT: bitch not being directed at the author or anyone in particular, just added for effect 'cause I'm proud...

Change in spelling from panel one to 2, it's annoying

Leels:
Octopus is a word of Latin origin. Not Greek

Correct that the plural of Octopus is not Octopi, but you got it the wrong way round; Octopus is actually a word of Greek origin, not Latin.

Octopus is from the Greek words Octo, meaning eight, and Pous, meaning foot; the plural of Pous is Podes, hence the plural of Octopus is Octopodes.

And yes, I am doing Latin and Greek at university.

It is Greek. -i is a Latin plural ending, or sometimes a Latinised Greek ending (from -oi).
"Octopodes" is the "correct" plural, but since it is now an English word the English -es plural is more appropriate.

But when someone says "octopi" we all know what they mean.

I'm just surprised Podi hasn't started tearing into Eliza with his beak, honestly. An octopus is an octopus, after all.

Low-content post for the win!

I am Greek. In modern Greek we call it Htapodi (plural: htapodia) with a very strong "h".

Just thought I should get it out there.

But yeah, Octopus is a Greek word, indeed (too lazy to explain how it became Htapodi from Octopus, but the similarities are there).

I'm part of the 1%! Woo!

If only because I'm pretty sure that I've never once had to say/write the plural form of Octopus. It's just not something that comes up in everyday conversation...

Hehe, comic was funny even though it's not the first time I've heard this (though the source of the learning was all the same)

Anyway, you just publicly corrected the entire internet. Do you realize what you've just done?

Octopi is completely wrong and comes about from a fundamental misunderstanding of Greek pluralization. Octopuses is correct as it reflects proper English pluralization. Octopodes is most correct as reflects the proper Greek pluralization.

When it comes to spelling, she one sour puss.
At least she'll have plenty of ink!

Never heard of "Octopi". Must be my excellent pedigree, or maybe the little Grammar-Nazi inside of me...

Yay! LeeLee is going to go ink for 4 days straight! Can't wait to see all those new comics! :D

In Podi's defense: Squirr..

You say octopi, I say octopode, let's call the whole thing off...

(Personally, I'm just impressed with the number of variant plurals popping up here. That, and the etymology of 'nice'. So that's why my English teachers hated that word...)

vxicepickxv:
We stole it, we can break it however we want. This is the glory of the English language.

You win, I do believe. :)

vxicepickxv:
We stole it, we can break it however we want. This is the glory of the English language.

Technically, you didn't steal it, you were invaded (or liberated depending on the point of view) and those latin (and -ugh-like french) words were forced into your language. And the English settlers or founding fathers just brought it along.

But if you want to point out that you are an American you may have a pretty good claim that you "stole" English from the Britains and morphed/mutilated/elevated (again it depends on the point of view) it into American Standard English.
Boy do I love nitpicking.

Oh and for the Topic's sake.
I'm really not concerned about the plural form because I always spelt it Octopussies and always will. It does sounds so much better!

Fun little comic, but some advice: even though Podi is awesome and all, it might be a good idea to not use him as the main topic of your comics so often. Once in a while is ok, and he/she is a great concept to use in the background of all (or most of) your comics. But now you're risking his awesome-factor by overusing him.

standokan:
In Podi's defense: Squirr..

*sheds a tear* He always knows how to put it best...

But isn't the Latin word derived from Greek?

Apparently Alix is a grammar nazi.

Or a reverse grammar nazi, depending on which is the correct term.

I love it. If anything to point out how freaking Stupid the Occupy Wall Street People are.

4 days off from school? Intriguing...my college has a 4 day break this weekend too. Hmm...