Flaming Meant Hostile Email Before the Web Existed
A flame is the visible part of a fire. Online, to flame someone means to attack them in writing, and the term predates the web.
A flame is the glowing visible part of a fire. The internet sense is older than most people assume: *flaming*, meaning to post a hostile message, is recorded on Usenet and university networks from the early 1980s, a decade before the World Wide Web. A *flame war* is an escalating exchange of them. An *old flame* is a former lover, from the idea of a burning passion now out.
- The visible part of fire. *A steady flame.*
- To attack online. *Don't flame the newcomers.*
- A former lover. *An old flame.*
- Flammable — able to burn. *Highly flammable.*
- Flame war — an escalating argument. *A flame war.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | flame | A blue flame. |
| Plural | flames | In flames. |
| Verb | flame | It flamed up. |
| Adjective | flaming | Flaming red. |
| Latin | flamma | A flame. |
- The candle flame flickered.Fire.
- The thread turned into a flame war.Online.
- She bumped into an old flame.Idiom.
Flammable or inflammable?
- Flammable and inflammable mean the same thing — both burn easily
- The in- is from Latin *in-*, meaning into, not a negative
- Flammable was promoted by safety bodies precisely to avoid confusion
- Non-flammable is the opposite of both
- Inflame — to set alight, or to provoke
Old French *flame*, from Latin *flamma*, a flame, from a root meaning to burn or shine.
Does inflammable mean not flammable?
No. Both words mean easily set on fire. Flammable was adopted by safety bodies to prevent exactly that misreading.
How old is the online sense of flaming?
It dates from the early 1980s on Usenet and university networks, well before the World Wide Web.