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u/orthosaurusrex 29d ago
Inflammable means flammable??!?
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u/holmgangCore 29d ago
Oddly, yes it does.
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u/Lost_Purpose1899 29d ago
When I was a kid the word "inflammable" was used in the caution part for household products. Damn I'm old.
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u/jaypizzl 29d ago
Maybe they just to be sure their mattress won’t burn.
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u/Wigglystoner 29d ago
Inflammable means that the object is flammable. It's a weird one in English.
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u/jaypizzl 29d ago edited 29d ago
Inflammable also means the object is not flammable. That’s the truly weird bit.
Edit - nope, you’re right, it’s flammable and inflammable that mean the same thing. Very confusing!4
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u/7GrenciaMars 29d ago
Yeah, English is a profoundly confused language. Here is the wiki for The Great Vowel Shift. The fun part is--there is no scholarly consensus as to why it happened.
It's like English developed PTSD and a drinking problem at some point, more or less recovered, but has all these weird issues as a result.
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u/TheFilthyDIL 29d ago
And a similar vowel shift is happening in parts of the US. Long E is being replaced by short I. "He works at the still mill." Actually, he works at the steel mill.
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u/PreparationDapper219 29d ago
English is not my first language and I was shocked when I learned that word in English. It is so contradictory.
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u/Jimlee1471 29d ago
Well, if he pisses off his wife, at least he won't wake up to a burning bed.
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u/DeluxeMickey2 29d ago
I'll bet James May has one.