Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Q&A about words R.I.P.
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
OP no one died...(well no one i know or love) went cemetery visiting recently, and got to thinking about terms and words.
Like mausoleum
Middle English, from Latin Mausum, from Greek Mausleion, from Mauslos, Mausolus (died c. 353 b.c.), Persian satrap of Caria whose tomb was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
did you know that? (actually i sort of did, one feature of the empire state building in NYC is stained glass illustrations of the 7 wonders of the world (as they envisioned them in the 1930's) in the lobby of the building. (needless to say, they thought ESB was #8)
Careful! according to my fantasy role-playing games lore, mausoleum is where the undead dwell. *shudders*
undead
Shouldn't the undead be immortal or simply alive?
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
Quote:
undead
Shouldn't the undead be immortal or simply alive?
I suppose, if language were logical.
OP another option is to bury the dead(vs a mausoleum)
bury:
1. To place in the ground: bury a bone. 2a. To place (a corpse) in a grave, a tomb, or the sea; inter. b. To dispose of (a corpse) ritualistically by means other than cremation. 3. To conceal by or as if by covering over with earth; hide: buried her face in the pillow; buried the secret deep within himself. See synonyms at hide1. 4. To occupy (oneself) with deep concentration; absorb: buried myself in my studies. 5. To put an end to; abandon: buried their quarrel and shook hands.
Middle English burien, from Old English byrgan. See bhergh-1 in Appendix I.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE58.html
(from the american heritage dictionary)
the hide idea is interesting.. it comes up in other words (used for the ways we deal with dead bodies)
its interesting that death (and dead bodies) has this aspect of hidden. (perhaps a bit of a taboo)
as i said, i went to a cemetery, (the first time i have gone to 'visit' one--i have been to several funeral services in cemetaries, but unlike TV and Movie services, these did not not have a grave side service.
the US military (several relatives who were US veterns have died in the family in recent years) conducts a very formal, slow, careful service. but its done in a small open air --not quite a chapel, but building.(gazebo isn't quite the right word, but the structure is more like a gazebo than anything else)
its covered and has half walls (one service was in dead of winter, and the angle of the roof let in warming sunshine, but the walls broke the wind) the other service (in mid summer) was cool-- the angle of the roof provided much needed shade.
the actual interment is done out of sight of the family, (the graves are precicely lined up.. (i have the name of the engineering tool (az???) used to line up up the graves and headstones is at the tip of my tongue (fingers!) but can't quite remember it.
military (well US military) cemeteries have a very distincitve look, as a result. (the uniformity of headstones is another reason)
Moderated by Jackie
Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,913Posts229,404Members9,182 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 1 members (wofahulicodoc), 354 guests, and 1 robot. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 29
Top Posters wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613wofahulicodoc 10,580tsuwm 10,542LukeJavan8 9,922Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org