why does the word "immigrate" sound like it's wrong when it isn't, but "emigrate" sounds fine?

Because you're insane?

haha possibly

immigrate sounds very weird to me too.

here's one: treacherousness. that is a really the noun but sounds horribly made up.

maybe treacherousness seems wrong cz we assume it must mean the same as treachery (and obv doesn't)

(i had a teacher who would crossly insist that "simplistic" was unnecessary when we already had the word "simple")

also, treasonous. that sounds wrong, but is the correct adjective.

I had a latin teacher who got angry about transport vs transportation.

the more I think about this though the more everything starts to sound wrong.

Oh, commentator! Because it sounds like (and actually probably is) a construction based on "commenting"! So it should be "commentor." Sounds wrong!

i have been debating how to turn scientism into an adjective for like a week now (in my head, in spare moments). it seems like it should be scientific, but of course that already means something. so then scientistic, except it just seems like you're misstating "scientific" and especially since "scientism" is uncommon enough, "scientistic" will probably look stupid and incomprehensible to people.

which means, i guess, that to invoke the concept of scientism you always have to use it as a noun, and can't speak of a "scientistic approach" but only an "approach that smacks of scientism" -- all of which is somehow deeply unfair.

you could say "they're on a scientism head-trip"

Close the borders.

oh! eric just made me realise --

"immigrate" is a verb only ever used of others -- and generally in a negative sense:
"they" immigrate (w.buried implication = we must stop em, or they will sap our precious bodily fluids etc) --> the people who generally use the word immigration are (at least somewhat, possibly much more then somewhat) anti-it

hence you rarely hear "we" immigrate -- bcz this particular verb already entails admission or anyway acknowledgment that the act is questionable?
(ie to use it w. first-person sing or plur = wd be to declare yr giving yrself over willingly to the whims and misperceptions and chauvinism of the country yr arriving in; that how they see you is correct, and how you see yrself is wrong?)

whereas "emigrate" seems merely morally and politically neutral

(just to be clear: i am totally whistleheadedly pollyanna-ish about population movement, and believe the entire globe shd be open-border and anyone allowed to go anywhere without hindrance) (people call me rude/i wish we all were nude/i wish there were no black and white/i wish there were no rules)

why "unstable" but "instability"?

Wouldn't we say inmigrate rather than immigrate?