How did we get the term 'living room' for what use to be called the parlor?

The word Parlor (or parlour if you are from the UK) cames from Middle English parlur and from Old French, from parler, to talk. So it was probably meant to be the room where you converse with your family. After 24 years of marriage the kids have left home and my wife and I just grunt at each other occasionally so Parlour has become a misnomer. As we spend the majority of our waking ours at home in this room, it seems more relevant to call it a Living Room

In most Irish rural houses, the parlour was not the living room, it was the room that was kept unoccupied except when special guests game, in which case they had tea in the parlour. The living room was the kitchen, where people lived.

Things are changing nowadays. I haven't got a living room, I have a sitting room, but for most people who have one, it is the room with the television. TV = Life, therefore, Living Room.

Gnomon is correct, only it applies to the UK as well (and not just rural regions). It was just used for weddings and funerals.

Days ago, after someone died, viewings were held in the home. In fact the open casket was always there for a certain amout of time (say at least a week). So the room the had the coffin and the body was called the 'death room' - while the room that was a little more comfortable and relaxing was called the 'living room'...