One numeric way you can tell a squid from an octopus is a squid has ten rather than eight tentacles, but you have to be able to count to ten.

I think of calamari as a battered form of squid and something I'd find in Italian and Greek restaurants. I often order the calamari appetizer as a meal at certain local restaurants because the serving is substantial.

However, as Faldage knows, I prepare a dish a Bostonian lady taught me how to cook--but we called it fried squid, not calamari. It wasn't battered, but, instead, was simply fried in butter with parsley and served over toasted French bread. Without the batter, you really have to be a squid lover because there is no disguise.