In honor of Halloween, I would like to bring you a truly morbid post by pointing out two interesting trends in the realm of death this week.
First, TIME Magazine had an article this week, “What Happens to Your Facebook Profile After You Die”. Apparently if a user dies and the family can submit proof like an obituary, the profile can either be removed completely or converted into a memorial. The user then won’t show up in Facebook’s suggestions, and information like status updates won’t show up in Facebook’s news feed. This came out of complaints by users who were getting suggestions to reconnect with deceased users.
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I really ought to save this one for my “favorite obit of the week” this week, but I simply can’t resist mentioning it.
Elizabeth Clare Wulf, a.k.a. Elizabeth Prophet died last week, and rated an obit in the NY Times this weekend.
Elizabeth Prophet was the founder of a church called “Church Universal and Triumphant,” which, as far as I can tell, seems to have been a conglomeration of a bunch of different religious aspects from a variety of traditions; she mixed her Christianity with her Buddhism, a little theosophy, and, from the sound of it, a little bit of greek mythology for good measure.
She got some press in the ’80s for predicting a nuclear doomsday due to war with the Soviet Union, and she made that classic mistake of cult leaders and actually named the date of the apocalypse.
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… and as I’ve been doing research for this project, I’ve noticed people have just as many ways to say someone died. There are several superstitions about inviting death in by speaking its name, and while I prefer to just say someone died, some people prefer not to be so direct.
So, in honor of those who prefer more artful and colorful ways to talk about death (and with kudos to Ian) I give you my top ten list of favorite euphemisms for death:
1. Shuffle off this mortal coil
2. Give up the ghost
3. Kick the bucket
4. At room temperature
5. Dirt nap
6. Se le congeló la sonrisa (to get a frozen smile.)
7. Bought a pine condo
8. Turn up one’s toes
9. Moved into upper management
10. Eating the grass by the roots
What are your favorites?