Obituary writers have learned to use special terms-of-art to describe less-than-lovable characteristics of the Dearly Departed without giving explicit offense. Some examples:
| phrase | meaning |
|---|---|
| ... gave colorful accounts of exploits ... | liar |
| ... tireless raconteur ... | bore |
| ... did not suffer fools gladly ... | foul-tempered |
| ... never married ... | gay |
| ... vivacious ... or ... a character ... | drunk |
| ... over-attached to certain ideas and theories ... | fascist |
| ... utterly carefree ... | senile |
| ... door was always open ... | lush |
| ... free spirit ... | unemployable |
And of course, the words "die", "dead", and "death" must be replaced by gentler euphemisms ...
(adapted from "Death is the New Black" in The Guardian, 28 Apr 2002, and other sources; cf. McGs (28 Feb 2002), DeathAndLife (2 Jan 2005), ...)
TopicHumor - TopicLife - TopicLiterature - 2007-11-15
(correlates: Kubota Logo Mystery, AnneFadiman, CaptainKangaroo, ...)