Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Why is possum spelled as opossum?

This seems unnecessary, and should just be a possum only. Does anyone know why the ';o'; was added? Thanks for your answers in advance.Why is possum spelled as opossum?
The o wasn't added. I believe it has always been opossum.








';Is a possum and an opossum the same thing?





Yes and no. Throughout America the opossum is often referred to colloquially as a possum (similarly to the way some people refer to a potato as a tater or to a mosquito as a skeeter), but its actual name is opossum. When we refer to it by its colloquial name on this website, we usually add an apostrophe at the beginning to indicate the omission of the initial o: 鈥檖ossum. But there really is an animal called a possum (without an initial o) that differs significantly from the North American opossum. The true possum is indigenous to Australia and looks quite unlike the American variety. ';





http://opossum.craton.net/faqs.htmWhy is possum spelled as opossum?
Possums are a completely different animal from opossums. Possums are in the suborder Phalangeriformes (order Diprotodontia), where opossums are in the family Didelphidae (order Didelphimorphia).





'Possum in the US is 'colloquial' as someone put it, or lazy, as I usually put it to zoo guests.
The o is occasionally dropped due to laziness, but I do believe that the two animals are separate groups. Take a look at the links for verification...

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