The article discusses the findings from a study in the language of obituaries. It uses data from two obituary corpora taken from Sri Lankan obituaries published in The Sunday Observer in 2003 and in 2012. It attempts to answer a series of research questions having to do with the use of conceptual metaphor and euphemism as a way to avoid talking about death. The culture-specific metaphors reflect the cultural, religious and social characteristics of the Sri Lankan society as well as the personal and social characteristics of the dead and the bereaved.