Graffiti it is a rapidly developing art form whose value is highly contested and reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction. Both "graffiti" and its occasional singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word "graffiato" ("scratched"). "Graffiti" is applied in art history to works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into it. In ancient times
Plural form of words ending in -us etymologically Greek despite its Latinized ending, and so pluralizing it as if it were Latin (i.e. as "platypi") is ill-considered. As with "octopus", importing Greek morphology into English would have "platypodes" as the plural, but in practice this form is hardly attested outside of discussions about pluralization. In scientific contexts, biologists often use "platypus" as both the singular and plural form of the word, in the tradition of "sheep" or "fish", but laypersons and scientists alike often use the simple English plural "platypuses". Different dictionaries make different recommendations. As a word in Botanical Latin (as distinct from Classical Latin), "cactus"