the.com/undertaking
A task so serious it borrowed its name from burying the dead.
means A task or project you commit to carrying out, especially one that's weighty, risky, or demands real responsibility.
from From 'undertake' — Old English/Middle English 'under' (meaning 'among' or 'into the midst of,' not just 'beneath') plus 'take,' originally meaning simply to take upon oneself or accept a task. By the 16th century 'undertaker' had narrowed to mean specifically someone who undertakes the business of funerals — managing the solemn business of burial — and that grim sense stuck so firmly to the word that it overshadowed the older, broader meaning, even though 'undertaking' itself kept doing general duty for any serious commitment.
- original sense
- simply meant a thing one undertakes
- euphemism shift
- funeral trade claimed the word by 1700s
- same root
- undertaker once meant any contractor or doer
- tone tell
- used when a task needs gravity, not enthusiasm