"Why is it called a wake, if you're dead why isn't it called a sleep?"

[Renthead Mommy]

So asks the 7yo. So why is a wake is called a wake???

 

He's waiting for an answer.

[Tangerine]

Well I'd like to just whip you up a little smarty-pants answer, but...

 

The English word "wake" originated from the ancient Indo-European root "wog" or "weg," meaning "to be active." This evolved into several meanings, including "growth" ("vegetable"), "to become or stay alert," and "watching or guarding." The third also evolved into the word "watch," and it is in this sense that people have a "wake" for someone who recently died"[1]. While the modern usage of the verb "wake" is "become or stay alert" meaning, a "wake" for the dead "harks back to the antiquated "watch or guard" sense". This is contrary to the urban legend that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should "wake up."[2]

 

So says the all-knowing, all-powerful WIKIPEDIA.

[Frontier Mom]

So asks the 7yo. So why is a wake is called a wake???

 

He's waiting for an answer.

 

I just finished a long discussion with my dd, age 9, as to why people put "Rest In Peace" on a tombstone when they are not resting, but are dead. She said it should say something like, "Have a great time in Heaven.":confused:

 

At least they are thinking.

[creekland]

Then try to answer why a driveway is called a driveway, but a parkway is where one actually drives. I could make sense of the parkway IF the first ones meandered through parks and were scenic, but driveway?

 

One of the best that really does make sense is, with pro and con being antonyms, what does that say about progress and Congress...

[hillfarm]

I think of a wake in terms of the wake of a boat, something that is left after the boat passes or the ripple it created when it moved through. The boat is gone, but you can still see the wake. For some reason, that makes sense to me in terms of a human wake, or the event that happens after a human life has passed on and is evidence of the effect the person had while they were here. HTH!

[chiguirre]

I vote for wake meaning to keep watch. In countries where embalming is not common, you do stay up all night with the dead and bury them in the morning. I've done it a couple of times, although I stuck with the joke-cracking, coffee and scotch-drinking outside crew rather than the sitting next to the coffin, saying rosaries inside crew.

[keptwoman]

I just finished a long discussion with my dd, age 9, as to why people put "Rest In Peace" on a tombstone when they are not resting, but are dead. She said it should say something like, "Have a great time in Heaven.":confused:

 

At least they are thinking.

I'm with your DD, I've always thought Rest in Peace was a monumentally stupid saying.

[LMA]

Rest in peace is part of a Catholic prayer:

 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

The original prayer is in Latin:

 

Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.

 

It is a prayer for the souls in Purgatory. That is why Rest in Peace is on gravestones.

 

We say this prayer everyday for the faithful departed. Rest in Peace is a prayer.

[mcconnellboys]

It was originally used in the sense of "to guard" or "to keep watch". The living watched over the dead until their souls had time to depart the earth.....

[chadzwife]

this is not in response to anything anyone said, just taking this opp to sound off...

i wish we still did true wakes, where u stayed awake for several days with the body laid out in the living room and ppl came to ur house to sit with u, not just sadly but remembering or just view the person-body themselves one last time or make dinner or bathe children or ...

its the last time u will be with what u know isnt ur loved one really, but we're human and its all we've ever known and we need to say goodbye...as its a process.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I'm with your DD, I've always thought Rest in Peace was a monumentally stupid saying.

 

 

Not every Christian believes that people go directly in heaven. Many people believe that the Bible teaches that death is like sleep, and the righteous dead are waiting for the resurrection when Christ returns and takes them to heaven. For us, "Rest in Peace" makes perfect sense.

[keptwoman]

Not every Christian believes that people go directly in heaven. Many people believe that the Bible teaches that death is like sleep, and the righteous dead are waiting for the resurrection when Christ returns and takes them to heaven. For us, "Rest in Peace" makes perfect sense.

That's good to know, thank you. Perhaps then it could best be described as overused.

 

this is not in response to anything anyone said, just taking this opp to sound off...

i wish we still did true wakes, where u stayed awake for several days with the body laid out in the living room and ppl came to ur house to sit with u, not just sadly but remembering or just view the person-body themselves one last time or make dinner or bathe children or ...

its the last time u will be with what u know isnt ur loved one really, but we're human and its all we've ever known and we need to say goodbye...as its a process.

Yes, I agree. That is how we farewelled both my parents (Dad died 20 years ago today) and how it will happen in the future in anything I have a say in. The "closure" from that time with the person you love and is now gone is immeasurably precious.

[IsabelC]

Re driveway, I always thought that was because it's the entrance that you drive into, as opposed to a walkway. (No idea what a parkway is though cause we don't have them over here lol)

[kewb]

Then try to answer why a driveway is called a driveway, but a parkway is where one actually drives. I could make sense of the parkway IF the first ones meandered through parks and were scenic, but driveway?

 

QUOTE]

 

I don't have an answer on the Wake but for this one:

Where I grew up there was a lot of rush hour traffic so my mother always said it was because you could do more driving in yoru driveway then you could on the parkway. Often you were at a stop or crawling along to get to work.

 

In actuallity, the original parkways (at least where I grew up) were very scenic and threaded their way through the countryside to take you to the beach or the park. But alas, the estates were sold, the people needed homes, and now they look like any other road.

[rafgaf4]

My family and I just went to a wake last night. My boys asked me the same question. They all shared their ideas of why they thought that word was used. None of them really had the right answer, but it was interesting to hear their discussions.