the.com/tombstone

The last status update you'll ever post, and someone else writes it.

means A carved stone marker set at a grave to identify who is buried there and commemorate them with name, dates, and often a brief epitaph.

from A straightforward compound of 'tomb' (from Greek 'tymbos,' a burial mound, filtered through Latin and French) and 'stone,' an old Germanic word for rock. The combined term emerged in English to distinguish the stone slab marking a grave from the tomb or burial chamber itself — practical, literal, no trickery in it, which makes it almost funny next to the solemn job the object actually does.

average lifespan
granite outlasts most marriages, easily 500 years
epitaph trend
QR codes now link graves to online memorial pages
etymology
tomb plus stone, refreshingly literal for once
older than you think
ancient Egyptians used stelae the same way
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