# The Word 'Cremains' - is it OK or do you hate it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531 "2011-09-16T17:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/1 "2011-09-16T17:11:16Z")
From the ‘Are you planning to be buried?’ thread. I hate the word cremains for several reasons, that I thought would be obvious to everybody, notwithstanding the evidence that the funeral industry seems to be comfortable with the word. Poll forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/2 "2011-09-16T17:12:42Z")
Sounds like a breakfast cereal. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/3 "2011-09-16T17:16:05Z")
It’s just a nasty-sounding, made-up word. But since the “leftovers” from cremation are NOT true ashes, then cremains will have to do until something better comes along. ~VOW (maybe we can use leftovers?) ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/4 "2011-09-16T17:16:57Z")
Meh. I am only familiar with the term from the show Six Feet Under and don’t have a strong feeling about it. I think there must have been a deliberate effort by crematoria to avoid the term “ashes” so that families wouldn’t be surprised to find bone fragments, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/5 "2011-09-16T17:18:11Z")
It’s a word that should only be used ironically because it’s impossible to take it seriously. It’s funeral home industry jargon. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/6 "2011-09-16T17:18:32Z")
I find it mildly humorous. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/7 "2011-09-16T17:24:16Z")
meh, I don’t care and I fine with it, but it does “sounds like something you put in or gets left by coffee”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/8 "2011-09-16T17:24:55Z")
I have never heard this word until now. It sounds a bit silly to me. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/9 "2011-09-16T17:27:15Z")
I don’t have a problem with portmanteau words like “cremains” or “smog”. ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/10 "2011-09-16T17:28:54Z")
Isn’t that the crusty stuff that builds up around the threads of a milk jug? ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/11 "2011-09-16T17:32:49Z")
My favorite is “biodegradable urn” which means “a glorified cardboard box that we’re going to try to sell to you for $200.” Fucking vultures. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/12 "2011-09-16T17:33:24Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > My favorite is “biodegradable urn” which means “a glorified cardboard box that we’re going to try to sell to you for $200.” Fucking vultures. Just because we’re bereaved doesn’t make us saps! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/13 "2011-09-16T17:37:42Z")
I like it because the only other obvious portmanteau coinage with CR– is “craisin” and now whenever I hear “cremains,” I think of “craisins,” and I like craisins. They could have gone the “sun-dried tomato” route and called them “oven-dried ancestors” or something; that would have been less good. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/14 "2011-09-16T17:38:14Z")
I come from a family that says “dead” instead of “passed away”, so cremains is mildly irritating to me as an unneeded euphemism ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/15 "2011-09-16T17:41:30Z")
It’s a useful word that serves a purpose. It is perhaps a bit distasteful, but then, so would any word for the same thing be. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/16 "2011-09-16T18:40:00Z")
I’ve never heard that word before I saw it in this thread’s title. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/17 "2011-09-16T18:55:46Z")
“Ashes” is a lovely old word with deep metaphoric roots. “Cremains” is nasty, manufactured marketing speak. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/18 "2011-09-16T19:01:05Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > “Ashes” is a lovely old word with deep metaphoric roots. > > “Cremains” is nasty, manufactured marketing speak. Yes, this, exactly. So which option in the poll do I pick? It’s not because it’s funereally-related, it’s because it’s nasty, manufactured marketing speak. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/19 "2011-09-16T19:18:59Z")
I like **Dr. Drake’s** “oven-dried ancestors.” 😃 I hate “cremains.” For that matter, I hate “craisins.” They just seem too cutesy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531/20 "2011-09-16T19:19:51Z")
As an aside: > [@Poll](#): > > I hate it because it sounds like something you put in or gets left by coffee “The worst part of waking up/Is ashes in your cup.” -My brother, shortly after announcing he wanted to be cremated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-cremains-is-it-ok-or-do-you-hate-it/596531.md?page=2)