236
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago

Fun fact! It used to be called the parlor and was basically only used for home funerals, so was casually called the death room. When the funeral industry became a thing, rebranding it as "the living room" was an effort by the Ladies Home Journal in 1910 to get rid of the creepy feeling most people associated with that room, to make it a nice place for families to hang out while still alive.

https://armls.com/step-into-the-death-room

[-] tryptaminev@feddit.de 22 points 9 months ago

i strongly doubt that many people had the money for a room that they just used to present someones body if they died.

[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

It was also used for formally entertaining guests and wedding receptions. It was where the expensive furniture and good dishes were kept, that you didn't really use except when trying to impress people. So yes, it wasn't for families who lived in a one room, dirt floor hovel, or families that had servants and many formal entertaining rooms that they could afford to use regularly and maintain, but if you were middle class and had enough for a "good room" that you wanted to "save for best" then that was what it was used for. https://www.simplysoldaz.com/the-death-room/

Also- 30% of people died before the age of 5 in 1900 England and USA, so it's not like they rarely had occasion to use it.

There's a part in one of the Disc World books by Terry Pratchett (which are fiction, but roughly analogous to that time period in England) where we are being introduced to Granny Weatherwax (a witch) and it is said of her that she never ever uses the front door of her own house, because that is for brides and corpses and she didn't plan on ever being either of those.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Arelin@lemmy.zip 6 points 9 months ago

Our lore is weird

[-] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 24 points 9 months ago

One of the previous owners of my house died in the living room about 5 feet from where I'm sitting right now.

[-] spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works 22 points 9 months ago

Doesn’t the smell bother you?

[-] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 17 points 9 months ago

Only for the first few months.

[-] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 14 points 9 months ago

Cashing their pension cheques makes up for it.

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

Dang. But how is it possible to die in the room that's designated for living? 🤔

[-] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 months ago

Talent. And the heart attack probably helped a little.

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 5 points 9 months ago

They were contrarians, I guess.

[-] xoggy@programming.dev 3 points 9 months ago

Living room is by the front door so setting up the hospice bed in the large room with the easiest access to the exit makes sense.

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Hospice? Exit door? Not necessary in the Eternal Life™️ schematic.

[-] cuchilloc@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Maybe the trick is never entering the living room in the first place. What is dead may never die.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

And with strange aeons even death may die.

[-] Drusas@kbin.social 23 points 9 months ago

Spending a lot of time sitting or otherwise not standing up/moving around increases the risk of death. I say from my couch.

[-] ilovesatan@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

Nobody said you couldn't exercise in the living room.

[-] Unicorn@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago

A mini gym sounds like a good idea

[-] abbadon420@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

But.. that would make it a gym room

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

It is the room that lives, not its occupants.

[-] zaine00@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Reminded me of SCP-002.

[-] MadBabs@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

I wonder what room in the house is most often died in (what's the dying room?). Bedroom? Kitchen?

[-] hperrin@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

The masturbatorium.

[-] Engywuck@lemm.ee 8 points 9 months ago

Badroom, obviously!

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Gonna guess bedroom, as we're most vulnerable while sleeping, whether from external forces or internal.

[-] Chetzemoka@startrek.website 2 points 9 months ago

Bathroom? Going out Elvis style

[-] Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 10 points 9 months ago

I don't have a living room. Am I fucked?

Or can I exist on a technicality that any room I live in, is a living room, and therefore if I never leave my bedroom or game hobby room, I'm good, right?

... R-Right?

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

yeah, just eat healthy and exercise and drink plenty of water and you'll be free to roam the earth.

[-] EvolvedTurtle@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

The earth is my living room

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 6 points 9 months ago

This is why they don't have a living room in Clue

[-] flicker@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

The living room is red herring.

[-] evdo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 9 months ago

Leave the living room at once. It knows you're there.

[-] NorthWestWind@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

The mathematician defines the entire R3 space as living room

[-] ohwhatfollyisman@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

and take care of your liver.

[-] theodewere@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

but the treats are generally stored elsewhere

[-] Deceptichum@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

You can eat treats or you can live long, you decide.

[-] Burninator05@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I wonder if there is a way to either store treats in the living room or if someone could be persuaded to bring treats in when desired?

[-] Deceptichum@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

I suppose there’s nothing stopping you picking up food orders from your living room window provided your hands don’t leave the confines of the room.

[-] Hupf@feddit.de 2 points 9 months ago

What is a long life without treats but a hollow one?

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] jeena@jemmy.jeena.net 2 points 9 months ago

But we have a German saying "Daheim sterben die Leut'." which means "People die at home.

[-] cuchilloc@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

My education is fiction so: Valar Morghulis (GOT), and Live together die Alone (LOST).

[-] CarlsIII@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

“Living room” is just a name we came up with. Just rename everything else to “living ____”, such as “living car”, “living office”, or “living restaurant”.

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

I guess I'm going to die in my sleep then, because there's no way I'm ever calling it my "living bed".

[-] DontTreadOnBigfoot@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Sad mimic noises

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago

just don't get into anything called a death bed no matter how much you have something you want to say.

[-] ripcord@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago

Especially not one that eats

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

but I need to take a crap!

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
236 points (88.6% liked)

Showerthoughts

29242 readers
1404 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

Rules

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS