diff --git a/src/lib/scoring.test.ts b/src/lib/scoring.test.ts
index 42f6348..88324f3 100644
--- a/src/lib/scoring.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/scoring.test.ts
@@ -267,3 +267,50 @@ test('"dependencies" returns dependency hell', () => {
   const repo = buildRepo({ lastCommitMessage: 'update dependencies', lastCommitDate: new Date().toISOString() })
   assert.equal(generateLastWords(repo), 'trapped in dependency hell')
 })
+
+// ── language-specific causes ───────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('Ruby repo idle >365 days → Gemfile quip', () => {
+  const repo = buildRepo({
+    language: 'Ruby',
+    lastCommitDate: '2023-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+    isArchived: false,
+    isFork: false,
+    openIssuesCount: 2,
+    stargazersCount: 5,
+    forksCount: 0,
+    description: 'a gem that time forgot',
+  })
+  const cause = determineCauseOfDeath(repo)
+  assert.equal(cause, 'Gemfile.lock never unlocked')
+})
+
+test('Perl repo returns Perl-specific cause', () => {
+  const repo = buildRepo({
+    language: 'Perl',
+    lastCommitDate: '2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+    isArchived: false,
+    isFork: false,
+    openIssuesCount: 2,
+    stargazersCount: 5,
+    forksCount: 0,
+    description: 'a Perl tool',
+  })
+  const cause = determineCauseOfDeath(repo)
+  assert.equal(cause, 'Nobody could read it, including the author')
+})
+
+test('Objective-C repo idle >365 days returns Swift quip', () => {
+  const repo = buildRepo({
+    language: 'Objective-C',
+    lastCommitDate: '2022-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+    isArchived: false,
+    isFork: false,
+    openIssuesCount: 2,
+    stargazersCount: 5,
+    forksCount: 0,
+    description: 'an old iOS lib',
+  })
+  const cause = determineCauseOfDeath(repo)
+  assert.equal(cause, 'Swift happened')
+})
diff --git a/src/lib/scoring.ts b/src/lib/scoring.ts
index 25cab40..8ef41b5 100644
--- a/src/lib/scoring.ts
+++ b/src/lib/scoring.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,30 @@ export function determineCauseOfDeath(repo: RepoData): string {
       score: isJS && daysSince > 365 ? 5 : 0,
       cause: 'Lost in dependency hell',
     },
+    {
+      score: repo.language?.toLowerCase() === 'ruby' && daysSince > 365 ? 4 : 0,
+      cause: 'Gemfile.lock never unlocked',
+    },
+    {
+      score: repo.language?.toLowerCase() === 'python' && daysSince > 365 ? 4 : 0,
+      cause: 'Pip froze, then everything else did',
+    },
+    {
+      score: repo.language?.toLowerCase() === 'php' && daysSince > 365 ? 4 : 0,
+      cause: 'Died of PHP fatigue',
+    },
+    {
+      score: repo.language?.toLowerCase() === 'perl' ? 5 : 0,
+      cause: 'Nobody could read it, including the author',
+    },
+    {
+      score: repo.language?.toLowerCase() === 'coffeescript' ? 5 : 0,
+      cause: 'Outlived by the thing it inspired',
+    },
+    {
+      score: repo.language?.toLowerCase() === 'objective-c' && daysSince > 365 ? 5 : 0,
+      cause: 'Swift happened',
+    },
     {
       score: descLower.includes('microservice') || descLower.includes('enterprise') ? 5 : 0,
       cause: 'Killed by overengineering',