Post-mortem
In forensic contexts, a post-mortem is the examination of a body after death to determine how and why someone died, often involving tissue or bone analysis.
A post-mortem is a medical or forensic examination performed on a body after death to determine the cause and manner of death, often involving tissue analysis or autopsy. Originating from Latin 'post' (after) and 'mortem' (death), it is exclusively used in medical, legal, and scientific contexts regarding the deceased.
What this means in real life
After a software launch goes wrong, the team holds a post-mortem meeting to identify what failed—say, a missed bug in the payment system—so they can prevent similar problems next time.
What it isn’t
It is not a funeral or memorial service, nor is it always about death. While the medical meaning refers to autopsy, the business use simply means a structured review after something ends, with no morbid connotation.
Commonly misused online
People often use 'post-mortem' casually to mean any complaint or criticism after the fact, losing the sense of systematic, constructive analysis. It's also sometimes treated as synonymous with 'failure' when it simply means 'after-the-fact review.'