Friday, January 05, 2007

Damn you, platypi for not fitting in

My sister brought it to my attention the other day that platypusses are an eighth of the size that I had previously thought they were. Naturally, I had seen them on tv and assumed that they were smaller-than-bears-bigger-than-breadboxes but apparently not.

My world is forever changed.

Upon writing this post, it has come to my attention that I do not know what the correct plural form of platypus is. I know it's definitely not platipusss because putting more than two of any letter together is wrong.

Raymi says platypus', which could be right, but looks kind of posessive to me.

I looked it up on wikipedia and they say 'platipuses', but if it's spelled that way, then wouldn't the pronunciation be platipoooses?

All I know is that it's probably not platypussies either, because that just sounds weird and pornographic.

Alright, the Oxford English Dictionary says

Plural platypuses, platypi, (rare) platypusses, (rare) platypodes. Forms: 17- platypus, 18 platibas, 18 platibus, 18 platipus, 18 platthypus, 18 platybus, 18 platypaus.
That's settled then.

FYI, a platypussary is an enclosure where platypuses are kept.

I think this blog is going downhill.

Actually, maybe it isn't. Around this time last year, I wrote something about salt and how incredibly valuable it was to people in ancient times, and explained that though they make it sound like a really incredibly bad thing in the Bible the fact that Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt was actually quite a good thing. It's the ultimate Biblical rags to riches story there. Convince people to sin and defy God or whatever and you'll make millions. Being righteous pays. No more nagging wife and you get a pillar of salt to sell on the open market to boot.

Maybe this exploration of odd topics is just a seasonal thing.