Grammar that makes you cringe

[jellied]

what is the opposite of flamable?

and why does flamable and inflamable mean the same?

[PeteB99]

This weekends horrible word courtesy of Clyde coastguard Gun and Subfacts broadcasts

Deconfliction

I think I know what it means but I'd never heard anyone say it before.

[PeteB99]

what is the opposite of flamable?

and why does flamable and inflamable mean the same?

Non flamable?

[jellied]

why is it not "unflamable"

[Jaded]

what is the opposite of flamable?

Perfectly crafted with no opportunity for a troll to come back?

[rogerzilla]

what is the opposite of flamable?

and why does flamable and inflamable mean the same?

It's lucky this isn't a "spelling that makes you cringe" thread

[Melbourne12]

This weekends horrible word courtesy of Clyde coastguard Gun and Subfacts broadcasts

Deconfliction

I think I know what it means but I'd never heard anyone say it before.

I first heard it in a military context, "to deconflict targets" meaning to make sure that two guns weren't both aiming at the same thing.

I guess it's American in origin.

[Ian H]

what is the opposite of flamable?

and why does flamable and inflamable mean the same?

I think it's the case that 'flammable' is a modern construction because 'inflammable' was deemed to be capable of misinterpretation, but think of the difference between 'to inflame' and 'to flame'.

[Jon P]

Strictly, a semi-colon should be used in your examples ...

Is this a grammar thread or a punctuation thread?  Using semi-colons would hardly make the (not very well-chosen) examples any clearer.

[Thor]

Ad nauseum recorded message while queuing for a bank call centre operative "someone will be with you as soon as they are available" 

[rafletcher]

A couple of grammatical (or possibly ungrammatical) traits from the Emerald Isle that I find irritating...

Using "bring" in place of "take" as in "I'll bring you to the shops tomorrow" a la America...

Using "avail" to mean (which it may in fact do!) "take advantage of" or "benefit from" as in "to avail of this offer phone..."

Strangely I've readily adapted to the use of Euro (singular) in place of Euros (plural) when saying "10 Euro" and now the use of the plural sounds odd to my ears. 

[Ian H]

Strangely I've readily adapted to the use of Euro (singular) in place of Euros (plural) when saying "10 Euro" and now the use of the plural sounds odd to my ears. 

Is that the counterpoint of, "That'll be one pence, please."

[rogerzilla]

I rather like the optional rule that, for most wild animals (especially game animals) there is no separate plural.

"A herd of wildebeest"

"A school of fish"

"There are lion on these plains"

Sadly it doesn't extend to

"There was a great bunch of chav outside McDonalds".

[hellymedic]

what is the opposite of flamable?

Flame resistant.

and why does flamable and inflamable mean the same?

I spose it's cos the 'in' prefix does not mean not and is more akin to 'a' as in awake or abed (different language roots though).

<pedant>
It's flammable with a double m
<pedant>

[hellymedic]

Strangely I've readily adapted to the use of Euro (singular) in place of Euros (plural) when saying "10 Euro" and now the use of the plural sounds odd to my ears. 

Is that the counterpoint of, "That'll be one pence, please."

One pence has made me cringe for the last 37.245 years.

It never seemed to happen before decimalisation.

[Jon P]

Is this a grammar thread or an idiom thread?   

[Ian H]

It's an idiomatic guide to grammar.

[hubner]

Is this a grammar thread or an idiom thread?   

No, I think it's a pedant-who-subscribes-to-one-prescriptive-grammar  thread.

[Pete]

One pence has made me cringe for the last 37.245 years.

It never seemed to happen before decimalisation.

I think I'd be delighted to learn that some item cost just "one penny", or "one pence", or "1p", or whatever...    Seeing as you can scarce get on a bus these days without taking out a mortgage....

In the early days of decimalization we all said "one pee", "two pee" etc., which made a lot of folks cringe!  But that was mainly to reinforce the message that we were talking decimal, at a time when many folks were still thinking in terms of half-crowns, sixpences, threepenny* bits, and old pence (and ha'pence) with a 'd'...  Happily the "pee" practice seems to have died out now...

*And now a poser for our younger listeners - what was the correct pronunciation of "threepenny"?

[HTFB]

I rather like the optional rule that, for most wild animals (especially game animals) there is no separate plural.

"A herd of wildebeest"

"A school of fish"

"There are lion on these plains"

And of course a mob of euro. Though I don't think anyone actually hunts Macropus robustus, and my marsupial books call them, en masse, euros.

But actually the usage of not pluralising units of currency is defensible and regular. You don't dig in your pocket for twenty quids.

[Jon P]

Is this a grammar thread or an idiom thread?   

No, I think it's a pedant-who-subscribes-to-one-prescriptive-grammar  thread.

Now, do you mean "prescriptive" or "proscriptive"?

[hellymedic]

One pence has made me cringe for the last 37.245 years.

It never seemed to happen before decimalisation.

I think I'd be delighted to learn that some item cost just "one penny", or "one pence", or "1p", or whatever...    Seeing as you can scarce get on a bus these days without taking out a mortgage...

You can't buy anything for 1p, but 'one pence change' adds to the pocket-ripping shrapnel after you've made your £*.99 purchase.

*And now a poser for our younger listeners - what was the correct pronunciation of "threepenny"?

Sorry, I'm not one of the younger readers...

[drossall]

what is the opposite of flamable?

and why does flamable and inflamable mean the same?

It's lucky this isn't a "spelling that makes you cringe" thread

But since it is a grammar thread, that 'does' should be 'do'.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

*And now a poser for our younger listeners - what was the correct pronunciation of "threepenny"?

Thrupny?

[Pete]

*And now a poser for our younger listeners - what was the correct pronunciation of "threepenny"?

Thrupny?

  I just wondered if anyone didn't know....