Conflate for Dummies

Conflate is a word that might sound a bit complicated at first, but don't worry, I'm here to help you understand it! So, let's break it down together. When we say "conflate," we mean to mix or combine two or more things that might be similar but still different in some ways. It's like when you're mixing different colors of play-doh to create a new color that has parts of both the original colors. You're merging them together, right?

Now, let's imagine you have two favorite animals: a lion and a tiger. Both animals are big, have fur, and belong to the cat family, right? Well, when we conflate these two animals, we focus on their similarities and combine them in our mind. So, we might imagine a new creature that has the majestic mane of a lion and the fierce stripes of a tiger. We're merging their characteristics or qualities to create this new imaginary animal.

Apart from this idea of combining things, "conflate" can also mean mixing up two different ideas or pieces of information and thinking they are the same. It's like when you're reading a book and you start to get the characters confused. You might conflate two characters, believing they are the same person when they're actually different.

So, in summary, "conflate" means to combine or mix things together, whether it's physical objects, ideas, or even information. It's like merging the features of two things to create something new or mistaking two distinct things for being the same.