Lexicons of Lost Lifestyles: In Passing, Part 1

This month, in her article, "Lexicons of Lost Lifestyles: In Passing, Part 1," Jean Hibben examines the origin of phrases alluding to things seemingly dead or non-functioning. As the article points out, most people refer to the death of a person in euphemistic terms, but have no trouble using the word directly to describe inanimate things or a variety of conditions: dead wrong, deadhead, and dead herring, to name a few.