Yes tinder is a real word. It's material used to kindle a fire.
Silicon valley has ruined all these words.
Then again, most people don't have to start fires.
Silicon valley has ruined all these words.
Then again, most people don't have to start fires.
But I also often hear the two-step usage where tinder is includes kindling.
This is why English is a clusterfuck, and makes no sense compared to most languages. Imagine if we called food 'eatings', that'd be weird, eh?
http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_1.htm
Perhaps you are complaining that gerunds (which are already nouns) can grow extra meanings over time. But all languages do this kind of stuff.
German has exactly the "problem" you are talking about, only worse. Depending on capitalisation, "Essen/essen" can be the noun "food" or the the verb "to eat", But when used as verb, it is usally used in the sense of the English gerund "eating".