“It’s a good book, especially if you focus on the pages from Barry’s class syllabuses. Syllabi? Isn’t that the oldest joke from college? “Hand out the syllabuses…syllabi…syllabeaux…”
Spellcheck doesn’t know the word “syllabi” here. The dictionary does. And Webster’s says either syllabuses or syllabi is acceptable.
And get this: Plural of octopus? I’m gonna let you guess.
No, it’s not octopi. It’s octopuses.
See, octopus is a Greek word. The “i” pluralization is for Latin words. The true Greek way to pluralize the word would be octopodes.
The Scrabble Dictionary does recognize Octopi in addition to Octopuses and Octopodes.
And thus: Rabbit Hole.
Beef? Beeves. This is also the plural form of that kid from Leave it to Beaver.
Opus? Opera. What does this make the plural of Opera? Nobody knows. Nobody has ever known…
Sphinx? Sphinges. I’m not certain that there’s much need to pluralize this word, but I guess if you wanted to talk about more than one Sphinx, there you go.
Biceps? Bicepses. Because you already don’t sound like an idiot talking about your biceps.
Cul-de-Sac? Culs-de-sac. These are my favorites. My favorite is taking a word and adding the S in early. Spiders-Man.
Nieces and Nephews? Niblings. This sounds gross. It is gross. I don’t like it.
Spaghetti? Spaghetto. Also the name for pasta that comes from an economically depressed area.
Low Life? Low Lifes. I feel like I knew that one, but looking into these has me doubting everything I once knew. “