>English once followed the conventions of the language from which the word was
>derived. This the plural of a word ending in -us was usually -i. eg octopus
>octopi.
The problem is octopus is not from Latin. It was invented much later.
In Latin the plural of pus is actually podes. But again it doesn't make
sense to say octopodes because octo already implies 8 feet. So just
stick with octopuses.
>This convention was dropped and the common usage method of using the english
>addition of an -s or -es became acceptable. Thus the commonly accepted plural
>of virus is viruses.
There is no "English convention". English took plural forming conventions
from many languages, e.g. ox -> oxen from Germanic languages.
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