Top of the mornin' to you all. Do you know what I like about Wednesdays? Oh sure, there's the obligatory "hump day" reference, but that's not what I'm going for right now. Yeah, I know it was a character in The Addams Family, but that's not it either. I appreciate your guesses though. I like that it's one of the few words in our language that I can think of that feels British to me. You know, like "Liecester Square" being pronounced "Lester Square." I know back east does that with things like "Worchester" being "Wooster," but they speak all funny without additional help. Quite similarly, "Worcestershire sauce" looses at least a syllable somewhere in there. Wednesday and its "Whensday"or "Whendsday" pronunciation stand out to me for that reason, and I often like things that stand out. Except that one curl on my head. Sit down, already!
Oh yeah, there's one more thing I enjoy about Wednesday. Occasionally, when the planets and stars align in that magical way they sometimes do, I post a Wacky Wordy Wednesday thingamajig. Not a doohicky or thingamabob, mind you; just a thingamajig. Today is one of those sweet, sweet Wednesdays. Buckle up.
Several times throughout my life, I have had the following conversation with someone:
Me: Well, you know that 'flammable' and 'inflammable' mean the same thing, right?
Person Who Has Not Yet Learned To Trust Peter On Such Things: Huh?
Me: Yeah, they mean the same thing. Like 'duh' and 'no duh.'
PWHNYLTTPOST: No, no, 'inflammable' means it can't catch on fire.
Me: No, a lot of people make that mistake. You can look it up if you like, but they actually mean the same thing.
PWHNYLTTPOST: I just don't see how that's possible. Let's look it up.
Me: (smiling, knowing that another will soon realize the foolishness of ignoring my knowledge) Have at it.
Inevitably, this person finds that I was speaking the truth and says something to the effect of, "Wow, that's really weird. Why would they mean the same thing?" I will usually then remind them of the "duh/no duh" correlation from earlier in the conversation, and they begin to feel a wee bit humbled in my presence.
So that's four very different meanings of the prefix "in." I know I may have lost half of you a while ago, but I'm hoping those of you still with me find this somewhat interesting. I do, at least, but I suppose that's a big part of what makes me me.
Huh, that's interesting. I was just about to start the next line with the word "regardless," which made me think (uh oh). Irregardless means the same thing, right? There's another prefix that can mean the opposite ("irrational," for example) but instead means absolutely nothing. I guess I can now say, "Yep, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. Just like duh and no duh and regardless and irregardless." Cool. I love expanding my repertoire. And you can't spell "repertoire" without Peter, after all.This post has led me to three final thoughts that I have:
1. It must be so incredibly difficult to learn English.
2. Why would anyone use "inflammable" or "irregardless" unless they like using meaningless syllables?
3. Does anyone else find this stuff even remotely interesting?
That's that for now, gentle readers. I actually have more word stuff that I was going to write all about, but the "in" thing turned into a post on its own. I'm leaving for a conference in San Diego today through Friday, but I'll make sure you get your daily dose of UOPTA. Fear not. Please remember to write to ptklein@gmail.com with anything about anything, for this week's FUF is still wide open (due to the lack of emails currently gracing my inbox). Irregardless, I hope you have learned invaluable life lessons today.
6 comments:
Ok, this is somewhat pathetic, but I actually know a little bit about this topic.
First "irregardless" is not exactly a synonym for "regardless," per the OED. Or. rather, it means the same thing as "regardless," but it is marked out as "non-standard or humorous use" and tends to be used in sentences to mock those who would use it.
Then "inflammable" (the opposite being "uninflammable") predates "flammable" by 200 years (1605 vs. 1813). Think "inflammatory" speech burning you up and passion "inflaming" your heart.
"Inflammable" as being capable of being "inflamed." Something being capable of being "flamed" makes less sense if you think about it.
Still, the flammable v. inflammable game is fun to play with the uninitiated, irregardless.
So, yeah, I find this topic cool. But you knew that it would be irresistable to me.
Heh.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is my friend Melissa.
I am so sorry.
I couldn't help myself.
My face is now fully inflamed.
Melissa is right.(no duh) Irregardless is not an acutal word and found as "slang" or "casual writing". I think it does not qualify as a acceptable due to the fact that it contains two negative roots, i.e. the Ir and the -less. Therefore being a double negative.
I rememeber a full hour long discussion on the word from my few days of college.
While we are at it, I wanted to share my favorite word misconception - "Peruse".
This word has come to mean to "skim" or "lightly glance over". It actually has the opposite definition and means "to examine thouroghly and with detail." When I was in college, our Anthro 101 Professor asked us to peruse the first chapter for the following day. Most of us barely checked it out. Sure enough, the next day there was a quiz waiting for us. When we questioned the Professor about this, he got out the dictionary and read us the definition of the word "peruse". Clearly, he had this planned as he had the page bookmarked. Nevertheless, I'll never forget that word and chuckle today when I hear people use it incorrectly.
Proud Brother, I remember you telling me about that. It was a dick move by the prof to intentionally give you a tough quiz early on, but at least you learned something from it. Thanks for sharing that lesson with the rest of us.
Son of mine.....I found this post so teresting that it was interesting.
Amazed as usual with your unusual mind.
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