The joke arises from the fact that "inflammable" and "flammable" are synonymous (that is, they have the same meaning.) Normally the prefix "in" makes the root word have the opposite meaning, as in: "justice/injustice", "sensitive/insensitive", "eligible/ineligible." etc.
Mistaking this inversion makes the non native English speaker think that the "inflammable" gas is the opposite of flammable, which is to say "not flammable." A mistake that could have unfortunate consequences.
No comments:
Post a Comment