The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #77170 Message #1373891
Posted By: Peace
07-Jan-05 - 02:49 PM
Thread Name: BS: You have been warned.....
Subject: RE: BS: You have been warned.....
What is the difference between flammable and inflammable?
Story I heard about that is this:
Inflammable was the original word--and it meant 'capable of burning, catching on fire'. However, people began to confuse that with other words where the 'in' prefix means not. So, flammable came into existence. Inflammable entered the language in 1605. Flammab(ility) entered the language in 1646.
I don't know if the above 'what I heard' is true. But, it makes sense.