Subject:
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Re: Platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus (was: building big)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Wed, 20 Jun 2001 04:52:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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170 times
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In lugnet.space, James Howse writes:
> In lugnet.space, Kyle Keppler writes:
> > > Heh. I've always liked that ship, but I finally figured out why
> > > today: It makes me think of a platypus! :) Okay, a platypus
> > > bedecked with cannon and engines, but still...
> > > Nice job with the photo, btw!
> > Thanks! This reminds me I really need to finish the pics. Maybe next week.
> > But it still needs a name...
> >
> > Hmm, whats the scientific name for a platapus?
>
> Platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus
>
> See, there was a reason all these posts were appearing in loc.au
>
> James (who now knows more about platypi than he ever needed to)
I've always been curious why folks pluralise platypus that way.
The plural is accepted to be "platypuses" in most English dictionaries,
but if you work from the Greek the plural is something else, because
the "-us" is part of the word's base [platy + pus, or flat foot]
and not a noun signifier. But if you had to find a plural, I'd
think that "platypodes" would be closest.
Then again, etymologically this also holds true for "octopus," yet
"octopi" has been around so long that it's entered common usage.
best
Lindsay
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