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submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[-] ninja@lemmy.world 267 points 2 days ago
[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 50 points 1 day ago

That is something I found weird, too. Inflammable and flammable mean the same thing!

[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Technically, I think they're different. Flammable means that it can be lit on fire, like wood or something. Whereas inflammable means it can catch fire on its own, like gas, for example.

Edit: after some googling, it appears that my source was shit and should be disregarded. They do indeed appear to be synonyms. And also, I was thinking of gasoline. I think I was thinking of the "gas pedal" and that threw me off.

[-] glups@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago

Credit to you for the self-correction though

[-] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 36 points 1 day ago

Synonyms, true synonyms. No real difference between them (except don't use inflammable in safety situations, for above reasons)

saying that "gas" is able to catch fire on its own is stretching it :) A gas mix typically still needs a spark, unlike: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypergolic_propellant <- that stuff can "catch fire" on its own. But even there - it needs to be mixed, so technically, one component requires the other to ignite.

[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Yeah, my bad, shit example.

United States education system

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago

It makes more sense if you think of it as enflammable. Indent and indebted at examples of this "in-" prefix. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/flammable-or-inflammable

[-] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

If you want to keep things crystal clear, choose flammable when you are referring to something that catches fire and burns easily, and use the relatively recent nonflammable when referring to something that doesn't catch fire and burn easily. Inflammable is just likely to enflame confusion.

The people at Merriam are alright ๐Ÿ‘Œ

[-] Wanderer@lemm.ee -1 points 1 day ago

Flammable isn't a word.

Just Americans got confused by it so it became a word.

[-] Hexarei@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago
[-] Wanderer@lemm.ee 1 points 8 hours ago

A word made for stupid people, yes.

this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
1415 points (97.6% liked)

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