🍲 Food for Worms: Entering the Language Afterlife 🪱
Dead and buried. This expression dates back to the thirteenth century, or perhaps even earlier. “Ne schalt tu beon wurmes fode?” wrote the unknown author of the Middle English Ancren Riwle about 1220. Shakespeare picked it up in Henry IV, Part 1 (5.4), when the mortally wounded Hotspur says of himself, “No, Percy, thou art dust, and food for—” and dies, so Prince Henry completes it, “For worms, brave Percy.”
Related and Similar Terms:
- Pushing up daisies: An idiom signifying death and decomposition, often in a humorous vein.
- Six feet under: Referring to being buried underground in a grave.
- Kicked the bucket: A colloquial and whimsical way to say someone has died.
- Bought the farm: Slang derived from military jargon meaning to pay the ultimate price.
- Shuffled off this mortal coil: A poetic phrase from Shakespeare’s Hamlet signifying the end of life.
Synonyms:
- Deceased, passed away, departed, late, resting in peace, croaked.
Antonyms:
- Alive, breathing, kicking, living, hearty and hale.
Humorous Quotes:
- “I intend to live forever. So far, so good.” – Steven Wright
- “I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” – Woody Allen
Proverbs:
- “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” – Commonly quoted phrase from the Book of Common Prayer.
- “Life is uncertain; death is certain.” – Ancient proverb.
References and Literature:
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes: Some of the most humorous death contemplations.
- L’Étranger by Albert Camus: Deeply philosophical and existential, with reflections on mortality.
- “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe: Gives a gothic and macabre reflection on death.
Songs:
- “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult
- “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum
Movies:
- Coco (2017): A heartwarming exploration of death and the afterlife.
- The Sixth Sense (1999): A psychic boy experiencing life and death simultaneously.
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. So now’s the time to live and love, to dream and dare. Forgive and forget – tell folks you love them – forget your share.”
~ Mort A. Lokenshower, reminding you that life, with all its idioms, is to be savored. Until next time, may your metaphors be as rich as your experiences.
