# Questions about etiquette at a wake **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915 "2004-01-11T02:53:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915/21 "2004-01-12T02:45:10Z")
Okay, I think I see where the confusion is. Checking [www.dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com), one of the verb forms of wake means > [@](#): > > 1. To keep watch or guard, especially over a corpse. > > Or > > 4a. To keep a vigil over. > 4b. To hold a wake over. The noun form of wake means a couple of things > [@](#): > > 1. A watch over the body of a deceased person before burial, sometimes accompanied by festivity. Also called **viewing**. > > Or > > 1. The visible track of turbulence left by something moving through water: _the wake of a ship_. > 2. A track, course, or condition left behind something that has passed: _The war left destruction and famine in its wake_. I took the meaning of wake (as it pertains to the death of someone) to be a metaphor of the 2 second definitions of the noun form. In other words, what happens after someone’s passing. Learn something new everyday. BTW, my condolences to you **jackelope** , and to your friend’s family. ---
**Author:** ![myrnajean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@myrnajean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myrnajean)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915/22 "2004-01-12T03:53:48Z")
We’ve always had “wakes” with the body there with visitation sometimes for a couple of days, prior to the funeral. Then there’s the actual funeral, the burial, then the “repast” The repast is where you go afterwards and eat, usually someones house. I don’t know why its called a “repast” though. I still can’t figure out why you go Eat after you have a funeral. Is everybody hungry then or what? Maybe its a way of celebrating the fact that you are still alive. ? ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915/23 "2004-01-12T04:09:24Z")
Probably because there’s a serious loss of appetite until after the interment. When it’s over and done with, those hunger pains strike up again. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915/24 "2004-01-12T10:44:15Z")
Thanks for all the replies, folks. Im’ back from the “wake,” and it was a tear-jerking ceremony, but there was not a viewing; apparently that’s in a few days. I’m also copmletely loaded, so I’ll close here. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915/25 "2004-01-12T12:46:53Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know why its called a “repast” though. A repast is simply any served meal. I would suspect that the word simply got attached to that event in your neighborhood. Around here, they are called “funeral breakfast” or “funeral brunch” and are often provided by the church in the hall (although I have seen them at people’s homes, as well. It is not that odd a concept to serve food after the funeral. You have a large (one hopes) crowd of people who have come together to pay their respects, often making a journey of some distance. The providing of food removes the burden of having them find their own meal on the way home while providing a further opportunity to pay their respects to the family (especially if they were not able to make it to the wake/calling hours/reception/viewing), swap stories, and engage in other acts of fellowship before dispersing. I grew up (Southeast Michigan with Hoosier antecedents) calling the one (or sometimes two) days of viewing prior to the funeral the wake, but discovered that a lot of people from Northeast Ohio refer to calling hours. (I haven’t seen a rosary prayed at a Catholic funeral in decades, although there is usually a scripture service on the evening before the funeral.) ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915/26 "2004-01-12T15:08:54Z")
> [@](#): > > (I haven’t seen a rosary prayed at a Catholic funeral in decades, although there is usually a scripture service on the evening before the funeral.) We still do them down here in Houston. Every Catholic funeral I’ve been to has had the rosary said the night before. What is this scripture service you speak of? I’ve never heard of that being done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-etiquette-at-a-wake/223915.md?page=1)