the.com/rip
The word that means both destroyed and deceased, because grammar gave up trying to tell them apart.
means To tear something apart violently, or—short for 'rest in peace'—to mark that someone has died.
from The tearing sense traces to Middle English 'rippen', probably from a Germanic root meaning to pull or tear, related to Flemish and Low German words for ripping cloth. The 'rest in peace' sense is a 20th-century abbreviation of the Latin epitaph phrase 'requiescat in pace', long carved on gravestones before the internet shortened it into three letters for tweets and tributes alike. The two meanings are historically unrelated — they just collided into the same three letters.
- origin
- short for rest in peace, since 1800s epitaphs
- double duty
- also means to tear or go fast
- internet use
- mourns phones, careers, and Wi-Fi equally
- irony
- often typed while laughing, not grieving