WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Grammar Minute: "Inflammable: In Flames or Un-Flammable?"

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

Inflammable. Incombustible. Thanks, English. Learn the difference on today's episode of Grammar Minute!

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language 60 seconds out of time. I'm Lauren Smith and let's settle this question once and for all. What does it mean to say that something is inflammable? Despite the misleading prefix, inflammable means the same thing as flammable. That is it refers to something which is easily set on fire. That prefix, by the way, comes from Latin and literally means in. Saying something is inflammable is essentially saying it is in flames. A common misconception is that.

Inflammable means both easily set on fire and not easily set on fire. Fortunately, this is not the case, and it only means easily set on fire. The correct way to say that something is not easily set on fire is non-flammable. Or to reduce confusion, you might say incombustible, which kind of makes things worse because it's the same prefix, but it means the opposite thing, and that's English for you. That's your Grammar Minute. Visit Thegramminit.com for more tips and tricks.