Picking Other People's Brains Is An Art

O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory? Where, Indeed. Many A Badly Stung Survivor, Faced With The Aftermath Of Some Relative's Funeral, Has Ruefully Concluded That The Victory Has Been Won Hands Down By A Funeral Establishment - In Disastrously Unequal Battle.

Lifelong Enemies Are, I Think, As Hard To Make And As Important To One's Well-being As Lifelong Friends.

You May Not Be Able To Change The World, But At Least You Can Embarrass The Guilty.

Alas, Poor Yorick! How Surprised He Would Be To See How His Counterpart Of Today Is Whisked Off To A Funeral Parlor And Is In Short Order Sprayed, Sliced, Pierced, Pickled, Trussed, Trimmed, Creamed, Waxed, Painted, Rouged And Neatly Dressed - Transformed From A Common Corpse Into A Beautiful Memory Picture.

Funeralese Has Had Its Ups And Downs. The Word 'morticians,' First Used In Embalmers Monthly For February, 1895, Was Barred By The Chicago Tribune In 1932, 'not For Lack Of Sympathy With The Ambition Of Undertakers To Be Well Regarded, But Because Of It. If They Haven't The Sense To Save Themselves From Their Own Lexicographers, We Shall Not Be Guilty Of Abetting Them In Their Folly.