What does Rest In Peace mean?
Asked by
rebbel (
35553
)
August 6th, 2021
Where does it originate from?
People who have died are dead, so resting is not something they can do.
It suggests that at a certain moment they are fully rested (alive people are ready for activities, once they are rested).
It baffles me a bit.
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10 Answers
I’d guess it’s a nicer way of saying “hope you’re not burning in hell”.
@bob_ That is exactly what I thought. If they are burning in hell, they aren’t very peaceful.
I see it as halfway between clinical science (you’re dead, there is nothingness) and a belief in heaven (you’re floating amongst the clouds with wings and a harp).
I also think it acknowledges that life is difficult with many hardships, so death is almost earning your rest with no more worries.
Simply a niceity. As opposed to saying he / she is “Meat for worms”, or as suggested above, “I hope he / she is rotting in hell”..funerals aren’t the time or the place for philosophical arguments, or hating on people.
I agree with @bob_, but I suppose it could mean “Hope you don’t wake up to find we accidentally buried you alive!”
May you never be disturbed.
Ma loved Pa Pa loved women. Ma caught Pa with two women swimmin’. RIP Paw (real epitaph)
I think it’s just a saying that came from the dying process can be torturous and also most cultures have customs of not disturbing the dead. Final resting places is another saying, which signifies where the dead are buried.
It means requiescat in pace, and please don’t rise from the grave to torment the living, or haunt us, or “now maybe he’ll shut up”, or, really an expression of well wishes for their soul.
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