Inflammable vs. flammable

Mon Oct 1 14:26:32 MDT 2007

According to M-W, "irregardless" isn't "fabricated by illiteracy," it's from "dialectal American speech."  http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/irregardless  Whatever.  I think it's not a word, but since it used as a word in speech, we have to call it a word, like "ain't."  "Ain't" is a word in speech, but it isn't a proper.  Unfortunately, any single-word term used in language with a clear and consistent meaning is a word.  Although, it may not be accepted as a proper word and it may reflect a lack of education, it's still a word.

You are correct that "predominately" ain't a word, but M-W has an entry for it, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/predominately.  I'm starting to lose faith in M-W because of its acceptance of improper terms.

There are a lot of words and non-words that people misuse, like "aks" for "ask" and "simular" for "similar," but many of these words tend to reflect ethnic and geographic dialects, rather than illiteracy.  Perhaps they show a lack of higher education, but the users of these words frequently know how to read.  A friend of mine used "simular" in a sentence and I told that she was using the wrong word because "simular" means something that simulates.  She argued that she was using the word correctly, so I asked her to spell it.  She pronounces "similar" correctly now. 

I want to side with M-W here because these errors in speech seem like dialectal choices rather than illiterate usages of language.

Lauren

________________________________

From: techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus.edu at lists.techwr-l.com on behalf of brianlindgren at aol.com
Sent: Mon 10/1/2007 12:26 PM
To: RHearn at cucbc.com; techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: Inflammable vs. flammable

The difference is there is no such word as "irregardless." It's fabricated by illiteracy.

Another beauty is the non-existent "predominately" which people use in place of "predominantly." I guess if one has a nasal voice the two could theoretically sound alike, but in this case they're mixing would-be verb tenses with adjectives and adverbs.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Hearn <RHearn at cucbc.com>
To: Techwr-l <techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com>
Sent: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 1:51 pm
Subject: RE: Inflammable vs. flammable

This reminds me of people who use regardless and irregardless
interchangably. I sometimes ask if they believe being responsible is
that same as being irresponsible.

Ron Hearn
Documentation Specialist
MemberDirect(r) Product Development
phone: 604 730 6391
email: rhearn at memberdirect.ca
website: memberdirect.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+rhearn=cucbc.com at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+rhearn=cucbc.com at lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf
Of Cardimon, Craig
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 10:48 AM
To: Techwr-l
Subject: Inflammable vs. flammable

Have I ever told you my gas station story? If so, you may stop reading
now.

This occurred several years ago, and the vendor in question has been
bought many times, sat closed for quite a while, and finally opened anew
recently.

I was pumping my own gas at this business when the very young attendant
came out and asked me if I could help him read something. Thinking the
item in question might be smudged printing or something, I agreed.

We came upon two groups of tanks. One group held propane. I don't recall
the other group. One group was labeled, you guessed it, "Flammable." The
other, "Inflammable." He asked me which group of tanks wouldn't blow up,
and which one he had to be careful with.

I replied he had to take care with both groups of tanks, and that
flammable and inflammable meant the same thing -- they could catch fire.

Gulp. I left as quickly as I could.

Craig Cardimon

Technical Writer

Marketing Systems Group

ccardimon at m-s-g.com

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