On 01/07/2016 03:57 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
My grand aunts and an uncle owned a two flat which had been converted
into one large single family residence in Rogers Park. Of Irish
descent, that room was the "parlor" Never heard it called anything else
while in their presence. Then, too, a couple blocks down on Devon was
Maloney's Funeral PARLOR. Back in the day, the Irish often held their
wakes in the decedent's parlor at the home. (Probably because the booze
was cheaper thereg) Coincidence with the naming? Or not.

We always called it the 'front room'. When my grandmother died she was
waked there. I remember getting up at night to take a leak and seeing
the candles burning next to the coffin.

We also had the floating designation 'other room'. That was whatever
room you were in that wasn't the room where the speaker uttering the
phrase was located.

Sort of like the guy with two dogs. Ask him what one dog's name was and
he'd reply 'Dog'. The second dog was 'Other Dog'. The rule was Dog was
the closest one at the time.