To find the use of 'passed' instead of died irritating?

Pecs
Isn't it a matter of choice how one views or describes anything in life.? What makes you think people are afraid to use the word death?

Cambridge English Dictionary
Pass Away = To Die
If it's good enough to be in the English Dictionary then it's good enough for me

Annie I agree
Love is never extinguished.
The love in our hearts does not die it is there for evermore 'passed' down through our Children and grandchildren.?

I find the term passed extremely strange because it doesn’t actually mean anything. Passed what? We don’t use it here in NI (as far as I know). I’ve only heard it used in England and USA in the recent few years and by mediums on tv. Passed away does seem a little gentler but I suppose whatever works.

Really annoys me too!

Anniebach, I didn’t stop at just saying he had died. We talked about it and what it meant, a lot. They knew what it meant, they knew he loved them and that it was the kindest thing because he was so desperately ill. Children of that age (the younger one was 6) are perfectly capable of understanding that.

Its hard to say he/ she died but its the truth and that we all will die and that our children could die before us, is life. Everyday is a gift when all are safe.

These things have to be faced up to and if a baby has got its angels wings -if that helps,I doubt it because deep down you know the truth and it is better to face up to it.
It will get easier and that is the truth as well.

You are quite right PEGS to object to passed away or worse still fallen asleep. There have been jokes made about that.

I talk about despatching chickens because people pale when I talk about killing them for food! I think people just want a gentler turn of phrase sometimes and I can't see what is wrong with that.

When my husband died our daughters were 5 and 7, my elder daughter was badly affected, her beloved daddy went to work and never came back. Should I have said - he is dead, that’s it, he is no more. Not forgetting I didn’t believe his love was extinguished.

My elder son was 9 when my husband died. I had always told him the truth, that he had died and why (cancer). Never used euphemisms or talked about heaven. No-one in our family believes in such things.

Not long afterwards our cat disappeared and we assumed he was dead, which he probably was. My son said, out of the blue, “ Daddy will be glad to have Puss”. Someone, perhaps a teacher or other children, must have mentioned an afterlife to him. It certainly wasn’t anyone in our family. I didn’t question his remark.

I’ve noticed on social media that ‘gained their angel wings’ is often used for the sad deaths of babies and young children. Perhaps it just feels softer, less harsh when speaking about these very young ones

I don't care for them, either, and would never use them, but I guess for many people just the sound of 'passed' or 'passed away' is somehow gentler or less stark than 'died'.

As a young child, the word 'dead' (in human terms) always conjured up for me the picture of someone on a block with their head having just been chopped off. I can't imagine in what sort of book I must have seen such a picture at such a young age - maybe an older sibling's history book. It certainly wasn't Milly Molly Mandy!

I too am irritated by the use of passed or passed away. Although many of us perhaps fear death it is unfortunately inevitable and we will all be dead, having died. Where do these people ‘pass’ to. For those of us who are atheists we do not believe we pass to anywhere.

With you there BlueBelle! I have no idea why I find 'passed' etc etc so irritating, but I do. I make a point of saying 'my sister died'. And as for the headstones...... well, morbid though it may sound, my daughter and I actually enjoy going round some of the very old cemeteries in London and we never fail to say something along the lines of "ooh look, another one who fell asleep; do you think they all wake up in the night & chat to each other?" Irreverent, I know but not meant to be....

Its what ever you feel comfortable with but saying that my friend who I hadn't seen for a few months phoned to say they had lost mum, now mum had dementia, so I am afraid to say I got the wrong end of the stick. enough said

Hmm I too think that it's quite irritating to use the words 'passed/passing'.
I prefer to say death or died. It's like saying 'The big C' instead of cancer, although I hear the latter word used more nowadays. The 'stigma' is fading.

I agree with Annie
When some 'dies' it is personal only to those closest, so it is their choice on how they wish to express and deal with it.
For my little grandchildren who very young at the moment we say they have died and gone to Heaven and are now with other family (or pets).

I use the terms died and dead when I refer to loved ones who have died.

Unlike euphemisms, lost or passed, the term died helps me accept the finality that my loved ones are no longer with me.

No matter to me what terms others choose to use and I empathise with their sadness and it’s not the time to be pedantic I feel.

In a time of great sadness and loss, surely we can use whatever words make us feel better. Each to his own.

I must admit I use died when referring to my lovely parents. For me no matter what word I use, it comes to the same thing, two people who loved me and whom I loved and are no longer alive.
Grannygravy31 I know what you mean. Your parents are often those who will always have your best interests first and make you a priority, once they are gone you may never be in that special position again.
Mine are very much missed every day, especially as I am an only child and so were they, so no aunts, uncles or cousins?

I think fear of death is now stronger because faith has faded .
I have been translating epitaphs etc on very old tomb stones from Welsh to English , there is grief and comfort, they speak of the death and the assurance of the deceased being with God .

Indeed, it is down to personal preference, and some phrases may give more comfort to a person than others. I suppose to say someone has died can seem so harsh and final. I just find it strange to hear it said by newsreaders when they are reporting the death of someone. (Celebrity or not).

I think you have to be guided by the person who has been bereaved. I always say DH died, but a friend can't bring herself to use the word in connection with her own DH's death and says he has passed away.

My Mother died 3 weeks ago and SIL told DGS, who had never met her but saw plenty of photos etc, that Great-gran had gone to live on the Moon. Now he keeps asking if I am going to the Moon, not quite sure how to awnser him at the moment.

In Nigeria they say " He/she has completed his/her assignment"