this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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naw that ain't the problem it's that I don't like how language is taught as something completely still and unchanging when it very much isn't
Two things.
For example, I love that we verbify stuff more these days. That's super cool. I do it all the time because I love that active voice. On the other hand flammable and inflammable slowly becoming the same thing kinda sucks because now what word do you use when you want to say what "inflammable" used to mean? You can do it. Just not as nicely. If people evolve the language that way then fine, I'll go along. But if language naturally changes based on usage, what's wrong with using it the way that you want to see it become (or remain)?
Can we agree to murder all of the people who refuse to use the word “too”?
Inflammable has always meant able to inflame.
I would say it coming to mean "not flammable" would be the evolution of language here because people conflate it with the other in- prefix.