Wednesday, March 5, 2008

M2- SEXAPUS?

WHAT IS A 'SEXAPUS' OR A 'HEXAPUS'
They call it hexapus, I believe it should be sexapus.
By definition a 'hex' means six angles as in a hexagon. A 'sex' means six members as in a sextet. What do you think it should be called, knowing the meanings of the prefixes...
Greek hexagnos: having six angles.
Sextet: A group of six.
(CNN) --
English marine experts have laid their hands on an octopus that's missing two of its own: a six-limbed creature that they have dubbed 'hexapus.'
Henry the 'hexapus' photographed by staff at Blackpool's Sea Life Centre, in northwest England. Ordinarily, octopodes have eight arms and legs. And should they lose one or more in an accident, they can grow the limbs back.
Which is what makes 'Henry' -- as staffers at Blackpool Sea Life Centre in northwest England have dubbed their find -- so unique. His missing limbs stem from a birth defect.
"If you look closer between the legs, there's webbing that attaches each of the arms together," John Filmer of the Sea Life Centre told CNN Tuesday. "You'd assume if he'd lost one of his legs in an accident, there would be space for an arm to grow back. "But there's no space for two extra legs to grow back. That's just how he is."
Sexapus or Hexapus???? You decide...
.....GED.....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Six is 'hex' in Greek (as in hexagon) and 'sex' in Latin (as in sextuplets).

Foot is 'pus' in Greek (as in platypus ('flat feet')) and 'pede' in Latin (as in centipede ('100 feet')).

So to be consistent, this thing should be either a 'hexapus' or a 'sexipede!'

glend558 said...

How interesting, should we start a poll?