English is my second language, and I am still learning something new about the language everyday. One of the significant differences between Japanese and English is that Japanese does not have plural form of words; Japanese speakers use exact numbers of objects or use adjectives (such as words for several, many, a few, and some) to express the approximate quantity. Basically, in Japanese, people mention 'how many' only when it matters. English has a lot more rules for plural nouns. It would have been quite simple if all we had to was to affix 's' or 'es' to the end of the word. Some words do not have distinction between singular and plural while other words have odd plural forms.
Some, but not all, words with 'us' on the end gets 'i' for plural. Plural for platypus was amongst such strange and confusing plural forms. Is it platypuses or platypi? Dictionary.com shows both of them as plural for platypus but lists 'platypuses' first. Same for octopus. A version with 'i' is more widely accepted for cactus, fungus, and radius. Plural for goose is geese, but plural for mongoose is mongooses. This is nerve-racking.
For platypuses, or platypi (by the way, spell check on blogger does not like platypi), this odd rule suite well to the strange creatures. They are egg-laying mammals with venom. They are like the biggest rule breakers in animal kingdom. The rebels.
The word platypus comes from Greek word meaning "flat-footed." This is actually the most puzzling part; out of all the strange features this mammal has, why did anyone focus on their feet? How about their duck bills? The scientific name Ornithorhynchus anatinus comes from "bird-spout" and "duck-like."
Act Wild for Platypus
Platypus Parts
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