Mutable doesn't mean 'able to be muted' which would have been my guess. It actually means liable to change or fickle. The meaning of words can change (wicked, gay, nice) so if
mutable is a word which exhibits
mutability, I might eventually be right.
Tulip flowers are
mutable; often changing colour as they age or 'breaking' into intricate patterns as a reaction to a virus.
22 comments:
Fickle tulips!
As mute means silent, I would have gone with that too. What an interesting language we have.
I didn't know tulips did that...I assumed they were cross-pollinated and ... you know...
Think I'm pretty good at word discrepancies, but some still do catch me out! Grrrrr...
Your definition of mutable would've been my guess too.
Thanks for the visit, Patsy, and the encouragement, children seem to like my books, for I keep the excitement happening from page to page. Think I'd be exhausted if I were the young reader :0)
Well...I never knew that, thanks for sharing.
Hmmm....don't think I'll be using that word. Don't like the sound of it. But I have used some of your other vocabulary sharings :)
They are - but so pretty I forgive them.
We certainly do, Maggie.
They do that stuff too, Mac.
There are a lot of chances to get caught out, Carole.
It is logical, Chrys.
Exhausted is better than bored!
Maybe it'll come in useful, Maria. Maybe not!
There are plenty of other ways to say much the same thing, Nicola so you should be able to avoid it.
Wasn't quite sure about the meaning of that word, so thanks Patsy! Lovely photo.
So lovely to see spring flowers. I can't wait for colour in the garden again. Sure I've heard of mutant forms of things before and imagined it meant something scary.
I'm looking forward to my garden looking like that again, Rosemary.
Presumably mutable comes from the word mutate, Christine. It would seem not all mutations are bad.
Beautiful tulips! And I wish some of the people I know were mutable in both senses of the word -- what it actually means, and what it seems like it should mean. *grin*
I think maybe we know some of the same people, Linda!
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