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"Uninflammable" is my new favorite word.
by mstade 10y ago
"Uninflammable" is my new favorite word.
- saycheese 10y agoOddly, according to Merriam-Webster it's a word: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uninflammable https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uninflammable Even more oddly, the double-negative (un & in) has no impact on its meaning "not flammable."
- lgas 10y agoWell, except "inflammable" means "flammable", so the "un" is the only negative, and it has exactly the impact on the meaning of the word that it always does.
- OJFord 10y agoExactly - in this case 'in' is simply part of the (Latin) root 'inflammare'; not the (also Latin) modifier 'in-' as used in 'innocuous' (Latin 'in' + 'nocuus').
- seszett 10y ago> Even more oddly, the double-negative (un & in) has no impact on its meaning "not flammable." But in- is not necessarily negative, it's also a prefix that can mean "in" (like indoors, ingrown): inflammable means it "can be in flames". Actually, French makes it more obvious, as the verb for setting aflame is "enflammer" where "en-" is clearly the prefix that means "in", not the prefix that means "not". At least English uses two different prefixes for "uninflammable", even if there's some confusion possible. French has it as "ininflammable", with two "in-" prefixes that mean different things.
- oliv__ 10y agoThe verb might be more obvious but the translation is actually the same: inflammable
- dom0 10y agoInflammable means flammable? What a country! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8mD2hsxrhQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8mD2hsxrhQ