Pegacorn vs. Pegicorn

I know the title of this post sounds like one of those cheesy sci-fi movies with titles like Mega Shark vs. Tuna Zombies or Siberian Death Plants vs. Octogatorpus but unfortunately it’s not. That post can be found here.

Nope, this post is about the correct spelling for the name of the magical beast that so majestically represents our blog. I’m talking about that flying unicorn horse thingy that is in our header.

I always spell it Pegicorn while Pat spells it Pegacorn. But which is the right way? Unfortunately for me I’m now just noticing that the spell checker is only flagging my spelling of the word but that doesn’t mean Pat is right.

OK Pat, let’s hear your case for spelling it with an ‘a’.

Pat: I’m just trying to give equal representation for each animal. We agree that, however you spell it, it is an eight-letter beast, yes? Well, given that it is half PEGAsus and half uniCORN...I rest my case!

And just to give a shout-out to historical accuracy...let’s not forget that we started talking about said creature after I referenced my son’s fascination with it. And at the time, likely due to his speech impediment...or his general inability to read...he referred to it as a “pagacorn”. Clearly, the ‘A’ is the dominant vowel!

Christian: Not only am I going to argue that pegicorn is the correct spelling, but I’m also going to argue that pegacorn is also the correct spelling, but for a different mystical creature.

You see, the reason why the ‘i’ is so important is because it distinguishes between two subsets of beasts. If you call a creature a pegicorn it means it’s a cross between a pegasus and a unicorn or bicorn or tricorn (for PCPPP it’s a unicorn). However, a pegacorn is a cross between a PEGasus and a quadrACORN.

That’s right, a quadracorn, which everyone knows is a unicorn type creature but with four horns instead of just one. I did a google image search for a quadracorn but oddly enough no results were found..

So I took a couple of days off of work to try and artistically capture the essence and grace of this beautifully stunning and magnificent creature. I think I succeeded:

Breathtaking.

So Pat, that is why the PCPPP mascot is spelled with an ‘i’. It obviously has no quadracorn DNA in it.

Pat:  Did you, by chance, engage in any role playing games in your basement as a youth?

Christian: HA! Jokes on you. We didn’t even have a basement when I was growing up.

So does this mean you are agreeing that quadracorn is the way to spell it? Or are you going to continue to be as wrong as a level 9 Druid with only +3 shadow spell?

Pat: No, I’m not conceding. I was just trying an old school-bully tactic of discrediting your argument by proving you an übergeek. But you just kinda’ did that yourself, so...thanks.

I still think you’re wrong.

Christian: Then what term do you use when you are talking about a pegasus quadracorn cross-breed?.

Pat:  I generally don’t find myself talking about them. Please refer to my previous comment.  

Seriously, dude, you’re digging a really big geek-hole here. As a friend I must warn you to stop.

Christian: I’m sorry but I’m having a hard time believing the topic of pegasus quadracorn cross-breeds don’t come up often for you. You’re a teacher for god’s sake. I probably find myself talking about pegasus quadracorn cross-breeds at least three times a day.

But for argument’s sake, let’s say you did find yourself talking about a pegasus quadracorn cross-breed. What term would you use to refer to them?

Pat:  “Mythical creature”. Well, maybe “KICK ASS mythical creature”.

Christian: But then how do they know which KICK ASS mythical creature you are talking about? By just saying KICK ASS mythical creature you could be talking about a dragon, a cyclops, a cyclagon (half cyclops, half dragon), an orc, a centaur, a mogwai, a Bilbo, sasquatch, a griffin, a keebler elf, a mermaid, a hippogriff, a Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, a kraken, a werewolf, or a pegasus quadracorn cross-breed.

Pat:  I’m kind of reconsidering this blog-partnership thing, Christian. I mean...do you really have time in your life to spare enough for you to be able to consider the taxometric groupings of mythical creatures?

Are you remembering to feed your children?

Christian: If by children you mean my pegasus quadracorn cross-breed snow globes and action figures, then yes I’m feeding them.

OK, I’ll concede that for some reason you rarely talk about pegasus quadracorn cross-breeds. Fine.

But I still feel like the correct spelling for a pegasus unicorn cross-breed is pegicorn. Have you even considered the option of going with pegicorn? By not at least considering it, don’t you think you’re being a little bit selfish and not much of a team player? Remember, there’s no ‘I’ in pegacorn.

Pat:  There seems to be in the version you want me to go with!

Have YOU even considered, dear blog partner, that you may not be wrong on this one, but that doesn’t mean you are right? Hmm?

Such an adamant adherence to a dichotomous approach to the problem reeks of a limited Western logic. It is either “Pegicorn” or “Not-Pegicorn”. So sadly limiting!

Consider, instead, a more Eastern approach: four-way logic, promoted by, among others, Buddhist sage Nagarjuna (ce 150-250), where the possible solutions to your dilemma include “Pegicorn”, “Not-Pegicorn”, “Neither Pegicorn Nor Not-Pegicorn” or “Both Pegicorn and Not-Pegicorn”.

Pretty cool, yeah?

Christian: I don’t know. I kind of had a hard time understanding what you were saying so I stopped reading and decided to draw a picture of a kickass cyclagon instead.

Fierce!