[Max Payne]

Right - can you tell me when people meet up in a pub after a funeral why is it called a wake

[Wondergirl]

I thought the visitation at the funeral home is called a wake.

From Wikipedia --

A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home.

The English word "wake" originated from the ancient Indo-European root "wog" or "weg," meaning "to be active." This evolved into several meanings, including "growth" ("vegetable"), "to become or stay alert," and "watching or guarding." The third also evolved into the word "watch," and it is in this sense that people have a "wake" for someone who recently died". While the modern usage of the verb "wake" is to "become or stay alert", a "wake" for the dead harks back to the antiquated "watch or guard" sense. This is contrary to the urban legend that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should "wake up."

[sophiesnowangel]

It is called a wake because the watching was done to see if the body was decomposing or if the body would "wake" up. There was a huge fascination/worry over being buried alive. In the mid 19th century they would even leave water and bells in the coffin just in case. No lie. Embalming became more prevalent around civil war when bodied would be shipped home so there was lost the chance that someone would "wake."

[JudyKayTee]

The Austrian folklore is that people stayed awake, called it a wake, to make certain that the Devil didn't take possession of the body whle it was unguarded. I thought that the "watching/wake up" story (for lack of another word) was also folklore.

Jews do not embalm, by the way.

[sophiesnowangel]

I was stunned to learn the fascination with being buried alive but it makes sense:

Numerous patents were issued for coffin escape devices. One particular design has given us several phrases that are in common use today in the English language. A bell above ground was attached to a string which ran down into the coffin and was attached to the wrist of the deceased. Someone was hired to keep watch on the bell to quickly dig up the person if the bell rang. The "dead ringer" was "saved by the bell" by someone working the "graveyard shift."