Fun With Dying! Trivia Quiz

Answer: croak

A real and commonly observed phenomenon is the "death rattle," the sound made by a dying person taking his or her last breaths. The gurgling noise caused by saliva and/or mucous in the throat brings forth a sound which has been compared to a frog croaking. Thus, the term "croak" took on the meaning of dying.

Answer: kick the bucket

This informal colloquialism for dying supposedly originated from people who ended their own lives by hanging; first standing on a bucket, then kicking it away. The Oxford English Dictionary, however, considers that theory "speculative," and prefers another possibility; that "bucket" was an archaic term for the beam from which they hung pigs to be slaughtered, and while in their death throes, the pigs would flop around and "kick the bucket."

Answer: pass away

"Pass away" is probably the most common euphemism for dying in the English language. In fact, the website 'dictionary.com' uses the term as the example in its definition of "euphemism." A euphemism is a word or phrase substituted for another word or phrase, when the user feels the original is offensive, embarrassing, or somehow too harsh.

Many English euphemisms came into vogue during the Victorian era, when those who shaped society's moral codes decided some subjects, such as certain body parts and bodily functions, should not be directly mentioned in polite company. Because dying is an uncomfortable subject for many, lots of euphemistic language has arisen around it.

Some people [the late (euphemism- he's dead!) comedian George Carlin was an example] decry the overuse of euphemisms, and feel that perfectly good four letter words are unfairly stigmatized.

Answer: feed worms

"All you got to do is live clean, let your works be seen. Stand firm or go feed worms." - This is a quote from "Stand Firm," a reggae song by Peter Tosh off his 1978 album "Bush Doctor." In it, he details his struggles while growing up in Jamaica and resisting Christian indoctrination from white missionaries, who tried to force him to Sunday School and accept Jesus as his savior.

He resisted successfully, eventually embracing his own personal philosophy.

Answer: push up daisies

"Push up daisies" is just one of several similarly themed idioms for dying which come from the idea of being in the ground. Examples range from the mundane to the strange; "return to the ground," "take a dirt nap" and "pick turnips with a step ladder."

Answer: flatline

"Flatline" is an informal term for dying born from the monitors attached to seriously ill or terminal hospital patients. These machines show a flat line on a screen when there is no electrical activity in the heart of the person being monitored. In Hollywood movies, this state is always accompanied by a high-pitched hum, which heightens the drama.

The actual analogous medical term for 'flatline' is 'asystole'. The resulting cardiac arrest must be treated immediately, usually with intravenous drugs and CPR, because with no blood flow from the heart the brain will die.

Answer: bite the dust

This is another of the idioms connected to dirt or the concept of returning to the earth from whence we came. In the book of Genesis, God informs Adam about the consequences of his recent action partaking of a certain forbidden fruit. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, til thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19- King James Version)

Answer: give up the ghost

Again we turn to the Bible for origins of a phrase relating to the act of dying. Acts chapter 12 details Peter's arrest and miraculous deliverance from King Herod, who is taken out by God. Herod, basking in his power at having nabbed another troublemaker, is on his throne speechifying to the Tyrians and Sidonians, who acclaim him as a god. "And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost"(Acts 12:23 KJV).

The latter phrase also occurs as early as 1535 CE, in the Miles Coverdale Bible.

Answer: sleep with the fishes

My favorite reference here is the 1972 movie "The Godfather." It contains one of Hollywood's most memorable lines. The Corleone family is hunkered down in a nondescript apartment, planning strategy after the Don is nearly assassinated. When Luca Brasi, the family enforcer, fails to return, they receive a package containing several dead fish(es) wrapped in his bullet-proof vest.

A horrified Sonny, with the package on his lap, says "What the hell is this?" He gets his answer from the Abe Vigoda character. "It's a Sicilian message. 'Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.' "

Answer: buy the farm

If a pilot was shot down or a soldier was killed in battle, the death benefits would be enough for his widow to pay off the mortgage on the family farm, or so goes the theory on the origin of this phrase. However, this theory is not substantiated by any hard evidence.