#5- A Grave Misunderstanding (CW)

We might get back to the bare bones on this one.

Hey, Shira here. Quentin and I are both SUPER BUSY. It is not even funny. The only way we could be busier is if we were faithful to the etymologist's code, which dictates that we battle octopus aliens with laser whips while searching Atlantean catacombs for new and exciting words and word history. (We are not quite busy up to standards because instead of laser whips, we use bats and sticks. Lasers are more expensive than you'd expect.) So here I present to you a cop-out, which I guess is pretty lame. My apologies.

So! Cool words. Nice. Okay. So I decided to choose a series of cool-sounding words that all center around a final resting place. "Shira," you say, "that is eXtremely morbid and not just a little creepy! What is up with you? Did your dog die?" To which I reply: "Reader, my dog did not die. I just think that for something so ubiquitous, there are a lot of cool words that mean 'tomb'. So this time we will deal."

Crypt- No, it's not Unix. A crypt is defined as a stone vault beneath the ground of a church. A crypt can be a reliquary, where relics such as bones of saints can be stored. From the Greek kryptos, meaning hidden. Hey, it's like Kryptonite is the hidden material... I totally just understood that! Hooray!

Mausoleum- the plural of mausoleum is mausolea! (I get very happy when words end with -um and pluralize to -a.) Mausolea are above-ground buildings that store the tomb of the deceased within. They are, as a rule, pretty fancy looking. They are usually crafted from marble or some other stone, but can have all sorts of decorations, like... tapestries. The word mausoleum comes from the first recorded mausoleum-haver, who was a Persian governor named Mausolus.

Catacomb- an underground maze with niches for graves. But hey, you knew what a catabomb is, right? There are catacombs free to view in Rome and Paris. The one in Paris has skulls everywhere you look. It is a unique experience to walk through subterranean halls lines with skulls, other bones, and inscriptions in Latin that have been mostly worn away by the elements.

Cinerarium- this word refers to a place where ash remains are kept. So an urn is a cinerarium, from cinis in Latin meaning ashes.

Ossuary- you can probably break it down. An ossuary is a place where bones (and bones alone!) are kept. This is a really good Scrabble word, because people always challenge it and it is pretty easy to form. On the flip side, its components are not very high-pointing, so balance.

Sepulcher is my absolute favorite of these words. It comes from ancient Jewish traditions, where they would be carved into rock faces. ABSWANTSAM, just so you know- the English spell this word as sepulchre, which I find is quite a lot more classy. On a side note, Sepulchre is a common French last name. (Why do I keep talking about France? Quentin is rubbing off.) It kind of worries me. I met a Pierrick Sepulchre, and he had no clue as to the macabre origins of his surname. WhooOOOoo! Ghostly noises!

Okay, so I think I am just about done for now. Shira out!