How can I talk anymore? Is it time to start pronouncing the first "d" in Wednesday?
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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English usage and grammar
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This reminds me of the pushback I give when people try to standardize on “fora” and “octopi.”
Although these were the plural of “forum” and “octopus” in Latin and Greek, now that they’re english, the common pluralization of adding -s/-es is more appropriate in nearly every usage: forums and octopuses.
Using Latin and Greek pluralization at this point is weird.
Octopuses is way cuter.
Adorable octopode is adorable
You could argue all you want about it being a common pluralization. But the fact is that it doesn't matter, language users have no responsibility to use logic or make sense. You say something, if people understood it, then that's the way it is. Everything else is prescriptivism's anal fixations. The fucked up discrepancy between written and spoken French is their fault. The madness of English spelling is their fault. Bunch of stuck up academics who had the power to force others in the education system to follow their logic. Now a bunch of shit doesn't make sense. Because common people will talk however the fuck they want as long as they make themselves clear and you can't do anything about it.
I’m all for standards, but they’re for very specific contexts. And something can either meet the spec or not. It’s okay to point that out. That doesn’t mean it is right or wrong.
Even language that hasn’t been formally standardized can be out of spec. Just try using very formal language when texting in the middle of a relaxed chat.