Inflammable is a dangerous word.

Natural languages and linguistics
Post Reply
Space60
Posts: 244
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2018 11:26 am

Inflammable is a dangerous word.

Post by Space60 »

The word "inflammable" is dangerous because there are people who think it means "not flammable". It is always best to use "flammable".
User avatar
alice
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:15 am
Location: 'twixt Survival and Guilt

Re: Inflammable is a dangerous word.

Post by alice »

Space60 wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2026 7:16 am The word "inflammable" is dangerous because there are people who think it means "not flammable". It is always best to use "flammable".
This has puzzled me since I were in short trousers. Perhaps it's due to a clash between "in-" meaning "in" and the negative prefix?
"But he had reckoned without my narrative powers! With one bound I narrated myself up the wall and into the bathroom, where I transformed him into a freestanding sink unit.

We washed our hands of him, and lived happily ever after."
Travis B.
Posts: 9855
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:52 pm

Re: Inflammable is a dangerous word.

Post by Travis B. »

alice wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2026 3:36 pm
Space60 wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2026 7:16 am The word "inflammable" is dangerous because there are people who think it means "not flammable". It is always best to use "flammable".
This has puzzled me since I were in short trousers. Perhaps it's due to a clash between "in-" meaning "in" and the negative prefix?
Consider the word inflame, which is clearly related.
Yaaludinuya siima d'at yiseka wohadetafa gaare.
Ennadinut'a gaare d'ate eetatadi siiman.
T'awraa t'awraa t'awraa t'awraa t'awraa t'awraa t'awraa.
evmdbm
Posts: 189
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:07 am

Re: Inflammable is a dangerous word.

Post by evmdbm »

And inflammatory and inflammation...
User avatar
xxx
Posts: 1023
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:40 pm

Re: Inflammable is a dangerous word.

Post by xxx »

pictograms still have the advantage ......................Image
over logograms...........................................Image

which are themselves far superior to alphabets..........inflammable
Post Reply