Why do "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same goddamn thing?

[Rabrrrrrr]

Well, actually, I do know why, but it's bloody confusing.

[merwin]

1. why?

[HEyHEY]

2. Bought time omeone addressed this!

[Kelvin Mace]

3. Because...

inflammable, which means 'capable of being set on fire; combustible', is one that often confuses people, because the in- here is not the negative prefix. Inflammable has an etymological meaning like 'into flames' (it's cognate with the English word enflame, which doesn't give anyone any trouble). But because of the fear that some people would mistake the prefix in inflammable for the negative one, the word flammable was coined. And that's the reason why flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Yeah, I know - that's why I said "Actually, I do know, but it's confusing"

[Vickers]

4. "cleave" ought to bug you, too

:P

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. That's even worse!

probably the worst offender in the English language.

[Richardo]

15. ...and 'sanction'

:eyes:

[Coastie for Truth]

7. Used interchangeably BUT

one refers to giivng off vapors that burn -- the other refers to the liquid or solid itself burning directly.

I wrote the original edition of the book -->

<>

and I can't remember--> used to keep the definitions on a 3 by 5 card in my desk.

[latebloomer]

8. I always wondered about that!

Thanks for the info.

[Moochy]

9. And what about Flame Retardants

Isnt that offensive to flamers?

[asthmaticeog]

10. Because Americans are dumbasses who can hardly be expected

to have a grasp of their own fucking native language.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. That explanation is just as good as any other!

Americans are a bunch of dumbasses.

If they spent as much time learning their language and science and math as they do remembering some asshole's RBIs or yard's punted or race record, we'd be a hell of a lot better country.

[Coventina]

12. "INflmmable means flammable? What a country!" Dr. Nick

Ahhh.....the Simpsons.....

[RebelOne]

13. According to my grammar manual,

"flammable" and "inflammable" both mean "combusttible or burns very easily." But use less ambiguous "flammable" when making a safety warning. Use "nonflammable" to mean "will not burn."

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Absolutely!

and don't use "inflammable" for anything, it confuses people.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. "Inflammable" comes from the word "inflame" and is the original

form.

Of course, there were always idiots who thought that "inflammable" meant the same as "non-flammable" and committed stupid last acts involving matches.

That's why the warnings were changed to "flammable," so that even the idiots could connect "flammable" with "flame."

[RedCloud]

17. the old "hotter than shit/ colder than shit" conundrum!

:banghead:

[calico1]

18. So is it also the same to

flame and inflame? Or are they different? :rofl: