Monday 16 July 2018

Octopuses

Octopii or Octopuses

A cousin of ours gave us seven tiny octopuses.  Seven.  He was so proud of having caught 7 octopii.  We weren't happy about it at all.  They were  baby otopuses, weighing less than a kilo each.   Octopuses which were not allowed to grow and reproduce.  It is illegal to catch octopus this size but still some people do, and are proud of it.






In a few years this, seemingly intelligent, greek man (ex-navy) will be complaining that there are no more octopuses to catch.  I wonder why.

What is the plural of octopus?
octopii          or   octopi
octopuses     or 
octopodes

I'll go with octopuses though octopi with one 'i' or two does sound quite learned.

Octopus - a mollusc with eight long sucker bearing arms, bulging eyes and a strong beak like jaw.
In greek 'octo-podi'  
Octo - the Greek word for 'eight'
Podi -  the Greek word for 'foot'



Now this is an octopus which has produced a few generations of octopii.  
Just one tentacle is more than enough for an ouzo meze (a snack)

Does anyone remember Paul the Octopus who predicted the results of the 2010 World Cup matches?  He had an  85.7% success rate.

This year the Japanese used an octopus called Rabio who successfully predicted all the early games the Japanese played.  Unfortunately he was then sold and turned into sushi.



18 comments:

  1. My son was up in Cape Anne and he said he had a baby octopus as a starter in a Japanese Restaurant, guess that is not good. It did taste good he said.

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    1. You won't find them on the menu in a taverna here now but I guess in other countries baby octopus is still a delicacy

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  2. I ate it once in Sicily, can't remember the taste.

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  3. I ate it raw in Gargano when I was 20; a fisherman was beating it on a rock, (to tenderise it) and cut off a piece to make me taste it, yuk! I prefer it in salads and cooked. Octopus is "rubbery" if not cooked the correct way.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. Raw? Yuk indeed. The men love it grilled but it is always tough. It needs to be well beaten and we usually cook it slowly in its own juices and then add a little oil and vinegar

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  4. Erm... the green leaves and lemon look tasty.

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    1. There will always be greek salad on the menu wherever you are!! I like octopus in small doses

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  5. Sighhhhh.....

    Why can't people use common sense? It is illegal for a reason. Common sense.

    Did you tell him, that what he did, was stupid?????

    Or was he one of those men, who would not hear, of being told facts...?

    Bahhh-humbug..

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    1. He knows what we think but is just damn stupid. Why the hell he gave them to us I do not know. The poor things are in our freezer still.
      I suppose we'll cook them one day but it would be embarrassing to serve them to friends

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  6. People just don’t get it
    But at least they didn’t go to waste
    Love octopus
    Yours look yummy

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    1. I like them plain , don't like octopus with macaroni which is Is favourite

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  7. Mine come in small tins; but delicious even so!

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    1. You can't go wrong there! Always tasty and tender

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  8. I remember Paul the football score predicting Octopus. I wonder if he won the football pools? I have never tasted Octopus.

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    1. Poor Paul died not soon after and not from natural causes if I remember rightly

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  9. I like eating Octopus, they're yummy but not baby ones, to me they should be allowed to grow to adults so they can have other babies and keep the species going. I'm with you on that one.

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    1. It's only in recent years that laws have been passed and people here aren't great at towing the line.
      Let those babes grow!

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