Is inflammable the opposite of flammable? One may think so, however both words mean the same thing - to combust. However, in Ghana, the seriousness of this meaning has reached a flash point.
The word "inflammable" actually came first and was a derivative of a latin word in the 16th century. Then along came the word "flammable", a derivative of a different latin word - "flammare." It never really caught on though, so inflammable became by and large an accepted word. So during world war two, instead of confusing unknowing soldiers by putting "in" at the beginning of "flammable" - thinking that the meaning was that it was not at all combustable, they decided to use "non-flammable instead," so that soldiers wouldn't be showering in kerosine. Besides... "non-inflammable" sounds rediculous.
Unfortuntaly, in Ghana, the confusion has not abated. The idosyncratic nature of this simple meaning is so extensive that locals are watering their gardens with petrol and pumping water into their gas tanks. The result is a country in crisis. Almost 48% of vehicles are waylayed on road-sides, while 2 neighboorhoods a week burn to the ground. Ghanaian scholars continue to look for a solution.
