Rest-In-Peace

While building words containing silent e's, the conversation got interesting!

Mrs. Fuller:  "Now, we've built the word r-i-p-e with our rubber letters.
                       Can anyone tell me what it means, Alexis?"
Alexis:  "Ripe means something is ready to eat.  Like- the banana is ripe."
Mrs. Fuller:  "Yes, good!  What happens when we take off the silent e at the end of ripe?"
Alexis:  "We get the word rip."
Mrs. Fuller:  "Correct; we get rip, with a short i.  What does that mean?"
Alexis:  "R-i-p.....it's something you see on a tombstone."