Prepare to be mind-blown: "inflammable" and "flammable" mean the same thing.
There is a subtle difference: you want to use the word "flammable" when you want to tell people that something will burn. Its opposite is "non-flammable."
"Inflammable" is a good way to describe emotions or situations. So a romance that’s about to blossom or a conflict that’s about to explode can be said to be inflammable. In this case, the "in-" prefix is actually derived from the Latin preposition in, which has a number of meanings. Kind of like "on fire," in this case.
Many flammable products will have a warning like this in their directions:
Flammable materials sold in New York City require a "certificate of fitness" (I think the "A" stands for "application"; anybody?) be issued by the FDNY to certify that the product can be handled correctly. I’ve seen that on cans of flammable materials for years and never quite understood what it meant. The things you learn in this job…
They never put a message like this on cans of Lemon Pledge. Perhaps they should have…
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
The English language is nuts
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Same as in Spanish, although it´s not common to see the word flammable around. Thanks for pointing out the difference, I won´t make mistakes when I need to use them.https://steampunkcowunicorn.wordpress.com/2022/04/07/f-is-for-fleeting-happy-as-a-clam/
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Easiest thing to do is forget “inflammable.”
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I knew they were the same, but I never really thought about it. The English language can be so weird sometimes.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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To paraphrase Dickens, the English language is a ass.
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Mind is definitely blown. Nice little tidbit to find a way to work into pleasant conversation. I almost used inadvertently in a work email this week but stopped myself. Didn’t want to sound hoity toity. Oh wait that’d be indubitably. Don’t mind me, just being silly. lol
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It’s a good word, isn’t it? You’ll figure out somewhere to use it…
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Wow. Such madness.
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English is a ass…
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This is cool stuff! You’re a wealth of information, John.
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Thanksw! How useful it is….?
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I love this! You know, stuff you know but don’t really think about until someone points it out…
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You can see how confusing it can be. I thought they were opposites…. I thought wrong…
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Consider my mind blown.
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The things you learn in this job…
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You’re getting paid? 😂😂
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Who, me? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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Good post. You have been on fire lately. http://dave-homeschooldad.blogspot.com/2022/03/f-is-for-freud.html
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Thanks! I have the scorch marks to prove it….
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Yup, this looks paradoxical
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I know. Crazy, ain’t it?
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It is, but then English language is pretty confusing
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English is a mutt. We take words from any language we feel like, use them in the strangest ways, and yet, we can understand ourselve perfectly…
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Haha! I think it’s true for all languages in use today.
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