Let’s continue with Word Knots, where we look at common instances of words that are often confused or misused. 

Our source for this is installment The Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske (Chicago: Writer’s Digest Books).

Rather than take a stern ‘grammar police’ approach we always try to keep it light and in each installment point out examples of semantic confusion that should be considered “must to avoid.”

From Fiske:

inflammable

Confused with nonflammable. Inflammable, like flammable, means easily set on fire. Nonflammable means not easily set on fire. Since the consequences of not knowing the definition of inflammable are potentially severe, most people quickly learn the meaning of this word.

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I’ve seen these words confused many times: cases where the writer meant “nonflammable” but used “inflammable.”

Let’s look at the most relevant Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary definitions:

inflammable

adjective

1   : capable of being easily set on fire and burning violently : flammable

2   : easily inflamed, excited, or angered : irascible

flammable

adjective

      : capable of being easily ignited and of burning with extreme rapidity — now used technically in preference to inflammable

nonflammable

adjective

      : not flammable : incapable of being easily ignited and of burning with extreme rapidity

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Note the mention in the definition of “flammable” that says that it’s “now used technically in preference to inflammable.” It’s my belief that this preference evolved over time because people thought “inflammable” meant “nonflammable.” Think of it this way, when something is “inflammable” it’s capable of becoming “inflamed” (set on fire, excited, angered, and so on.

Examples of each:

We were concerned about whether the tent we bought for the camping trip was inflammable.

We were concerned about whether the tent we bought for the camping trip was flammable.

I always look for labels that indicate that a product is nonflammable.

Once again, word choice is critical, which is why checking your work is an important step toward ensuring that your intended meaning is clear.

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