impossible to answer?

[pelowskicoli]

why does flammable and imflamable mean the same thing? probable and improbable are opposite; so are plausible and implausible. Get the drift?

[Ethel]

Historically, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. However, the presence of the prefix in- has misled many people into assuming that inflammable means �not flammable� or �noncombustible.� The prefix -in in inflammable is not, however, the Latin negative prefix -in, which is related to the English -un and appears in such words as indecent and inglorious. Rather, this -in is an intensive prefix derived from the Latin preposition in. This prefix also appears in the word enflame. But many people are not aware of this derivation, and for clarity's sake it is advisable to use only flammable to give warnings.

[jonarizmendi]

Flammable relates to flames, the bit we can actually see. Inflammable is when there's a risk of burning or "inflaming". But basically both mean "it can be burnt" period.

[SteveD]

This was asked just the other day:

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Phrases_and_Say ings/Question262085.html

[ugly_bob]

sort of like famous an infamous - infamous doesn't mean not famous!

[JoanneF]

Split secdond timing

[wilsarnie]

What about priceless? Surely that should mean the same as worthless as it doesn't have a price attached to it.

[Quizmonkey]

These are all reasons why we should wake up every morning and realise how lucky we are that English is our mother tongue...

[Joe Bon]

This is for wilsarnie. When something is "priceless," it's value is not monetary. It's value may be that it's either irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind, sentimental, etc. In other words "No price can be attached." - Priceless