Mysteries of vernacular: Sarcophagus - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough
Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

Mysteries of vernacular: Sarcophagus, a stone coffin typically adorned with decorative carvings or inscriptions. The history of the word sarcophagus is so skin-crawlingly grotesque, it seems to come right out of a low-budget horror film. Rather than having a B-movie origin, however, its roots can be traced back to the early Roman Empire where the Greek word sarkophagus was used to describe the limestone that a coffin was made of, not the coffin itself. According to the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, citizens of the Empire believed that limestone from a quarry near Troy would dissolve flesh.

For this reason, it was quite desirable in the construction of coffins. Though it's unclear if the belief was widespread or even accurately reported by Pliny, what is certain is that sarkophagus came from the Greek words sark, meaning flesh, and phagein, a verb meaning to eat. From flesh-eating stone to stone coffin, it's a fitting etymology for the final resting place of the deceased.