Hi, everyone,
Anu says, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were a word
for this?"
yesterday, while seeing one of my favourites tv-series, "Six Feet under" I was touched by this quote:
You know what I find interesting? If you lose a spouse, you're called a widow, or a widower. If you're a child and you lose your parents, then you're an orphan. But what's the word to describe a parent who loses a child? I guess that's just too f***ing awful to even have a name.
Is there a word in English to describe this situation?

I too am searching for a word and have searched for years and years. Can you help me?? Often I have a tune or song running through my head which soon begins to sound like a broken record. There ought to be a word to describe this condition. I think there is a French word for it, but I don't know what it is either.

welcome, LeGrand! and MCSpain, if I haven't welcomed you, yet!

how about earworm?

I suspect there isn't a word for a parent losing a child because it is a more common event than losing a spouse or both parents, and not a singular event. J. S. Bach had 20 children, only 9 survived past childhood. "Childless" could apply to someone who had lost all his/her children or to someone like me, who never had any.

Songs that stick in your mind: earworms or loopers. Some songs are deliberately composed to loop back, with a dominant chord at the end of the chorus that is only resolved by the first chord in the next verse, or repeat of the chorus. I'd mention some examples, but I wouldn't want to infect anyone.

from the archives:
the worthless word for the day is: endomusia

silent recall of a melody; endomusia often appears as
a type of obsessive thought (Psychiatric Dictionary,
4th ed., Hinsie and Campbell) -- for those of you with
a tune stuck in your head

oh sure, tsuwm, assume he meant the real word....

I have often wondered if there's an English word for adult children. I could introduce my sons or my daughters, but if I want to introduce my 2 daughters and 2 sons, even though all are in their 20's, I seem to have no recourse other than to say, "These are my children..."

re: I have often wondered if there's an English word for adult children. I could introduce my sons or my daughters, but if I want to introduce my 2 daughters and 2 sons, even though all are in their 20's, I seem to have no recourse other than to say:

These are the people in charge of finding me a nursing home one day.

(my daughter has already warned me that she will dump me in home faster than you can 'senile' or "broken hip" or....)

(

Many thanks for the info and your concern re infection. I only wish whistlers and hummers were as considerate.

I liked the elderly lady asked in hospital if she had any children. She smiled and said, "No but I have three senior citizens."