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Why were all the occurrences of the "Rip" the original question

were upgraded to capitalized "RIP" ?
How does it change the sense of phrases and of the "RIP" over "Rip"?

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closed as too localized by RegDwighт♦ Dec 12 '11 at 20:56

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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Rip Van Winkle is a fictional character, so "Rip" is just a name.

When capitalised, RIP means Rest in peace. This is commonly found on gravestones, at least in illustrations. A stone with the letters RIP is the standard way of illustrating a gravestone.

So capitalising Rip makes no sense in the context. It's a name, not an abbreviation.

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First come, first served. But seriously speaking, in case of stalemate, I always favor less reputed player. – Геннадий-Ванин Feb 16 '11 at 8:14
up vote 3 down vote

It was an incorrect edit, which I've now reverted. "Rip Van Winkle" is the correct name, the eponymous character of a short story by Washington Irving. RIP is an acronym for rest in peace or the equivalent Latin requiescat in pace, used to refer respectfully to the deceased.

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+1 thanks, Honestly speaking, I was thinking about derivatives of meaning "to rip" which are quite the opposite to "rest in piece" – Геннадий-Ванин Feb 16 '11 at 8:18
"Rest in peace" is a backronym. The Latin means "he (or she) lies in peace [here]" and indicates that the decedent died shriven, that no-one need be troubled for his or her soul. The English version pretty much implies the opposite, that the decedent needs encouragement to stay put. – bye Feb 16 '11 at 16:29
@Stan Rogers: I was oversimplifying for the sake of, well, simplicity. English speakers these days will almost certainly recognise the rest in peace expansion first, regardless of how correct it is. – Jon Purdy Feb 16 '11 at 17:04
@Stan Rogers: Are you sure about that? I've always seen RIP expanded as requiescat in pace, where requiescat is subjunctive ("May he rest/lie in peace") rather than the indicative requescit which would indeed mean "he lies in peace" - so "[may he] rest in peace" is a translation that happens to have the same initials, rather than strictly a backronym... – psmears Mar 7 '11 at 20:13

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