Why Aren't Flammable & Inflammable Opposites?

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SOURCES & FURTHER READING

[NameExplain]

Do you prefer flammable or inflammable?

[Bacopa]

Nuclear physics avoids this issue by using "fissile" = can go critical on its own, "fissionable" = can join in with other fission reactions, and "fertile" = can under some conditions produce an isotope that is fissile or fissionable.

[RTam]

I'm glad you've answered this burning question

[veitforabetterworld]

In Germany we have words that are identical but have the opposite meaning. Example: "umfahren" (Drive something over) and "umfahren" (avoid an obstacle)

[Werevampiwolf]

Reminds me of a book I read as a kid (pretty sure it was Magyk) where there was a wizard who was reading a magical sentiment book. She said, "This book really is invaluable, " and the book got offended and left

[beerasaurus]

Flammable is extroverted inflammable introverted

[keween]

Dr. Nick from the Simpsons: "Inflammable means Flammable!"

[AL_O]

I had a box of fireworks that was badly translated into English and they said to set them on an INFLAMMABLE surface when launching them, which i hope no one actually did

[sivara]

another example of this phenomenon is regardless and irregardless

[ElderNames]

French and English once solved this by spelling the Latin prepositional in- as en- enquire, engage, enflame, enquiry, encode, endure, encourage ...

[tyshibley]

With your distinction between flammable and inflammable the only instance where I see the distinction would be readily important would be scientific discussions which have the term auto ignition which effectively self combustion at or above a set temperature. You could also use a derivative of reactive such as self reactive.

[mRahman]

I was hoping it would work like the words _Famous_ and _Infamous_ .

I think the definition of Inflammable should be changed to "can cause something to become flammable". There, done.

Inflammable now means something that can change the state of a non-flammable item into a flammable one.

[RadioFreeHammerhal]

The crackling fire in the background was a nice touch

[New_Wave_Nancy]

This is cool - I had no idea there was any difference. But seeing the word "inflame" I can see how it works.

[christopherbentley]

This video was nearly perfectly timed, Patrick, as tomorrow is the fiftieth anniversary of what some call the real-life 'Towering Inferno', the fire at the Joelma office tower in São Paulo. By a strange coincidence there is a Brazilian singer by the name of Joelma, born in 1974 and another whose fame would have been fairly high in 1974, born in 1945, AKA Joelma Giro, to avoid any confusion. Despite the fact that the name Joelma does have rather more pleasant connotations than a disaster the tower, which itself survived, with its (in-)flammable contents burnt out, is now known as the Praça de Bandeira. I watched a short documentary on the disaster where the word of choice was combustible, so that is always a good compromise between flammable and inflammable. That sort of gives me an idea on a possible 'Name Explain' video - 'The real-life <insert word(-s) here>', ie., incidents portrayed in a feature film or television drama/comedy that have real-life equivalents.

[HalfEye]

In Germany, there are warning signs for both things. When something can be set on fire, it says "entzündlich" ("ignitable"). When somthing can't be set on fire itself but causes fire to burn further, it's called "brandfördernd" ("fire supporting").

[robyn_roamz]

These two words have always puzzled me. Thanks for your research to sort them out.

I would like to request a video on the difference between me and myself, and you and yourself., please.

[ALLANX]

All Inflammable things are flammable, but not all flammable things are Inflammable

[fluffyraichu]

Hey Name Explain! I got one of your books as a late Christmas present a while ago and I’ve been enjoying reading it! I even found one of my friends’ names (Alexander) and got to show him that which was pretty neat! Keep up the good work man!

[void]

The usage of Invigorate is generally not treated as a prefix, but just a word on its own. The confusion on inflammable is particularly due to Flammable being used. I am sure Invigorate would have the same issue if Vigorate was a common word, but it's do uncommonly used in English that My sample of 20 people asked thought it was a mistake (as do spell checkers).