I`m not going to pass away

I agree, eddiecat. My family know how I feel.If not, perhaps i'll be in a position to come back and haunt them

Yup. I'm gonna die godd and proper. No messing about with euphemisms for me, thank you.

*good

Another one here who hates that expression. I have been known to shout loudly, as I did at the north west TV news presenter a few evenings ago, "he hasn't passed away, he has died".

Passed away has been used for as long as I can remember - although a euphemism it does at least give the sense of someone having died and gone. Passed came from the US and has a rather vagueness about it.

I will just die and that's that.

I expect some people take comfort in the use of passing away/passing.

Yes its always struck me as a rather po faced Americanism. People see it being used on TV and think that's the right thing to say.
My late mother (another odd way of saying something?) used to talk about when she 'became an estate'!

Ann I'm always shouting at the TV too ! He's DEAD!!

It's a horrible way of describing death I think.
If you say someone is past rather than passed I suppose it makes a bit more sense

My granny sent a telegram when my grandfather died, over 50 years ago, saying that he had 'passed over'!

I must admit (rather shamefacedly) that whenever I'm told someone has 'lost' somebody, I always wonder if they've looked down the back of the sofa

I too will be just dead and please don't put flowers in the hearse spelling out my name or Mum.

I can just about accept "passing away" but "passing over" makes me think of mediums and seances, and "passing" just calls to mind other bodily functions. ?

I also hate the use of these euphemisims. It is widely used in the States, probably part of preserved Victorian idiom. It always makes me cringe. I don't plan to "pass" either!

I agree but think its a way of making things less abrupt for the bereaved. I wil die too and agree with grannypiper no flowers spelling my name and no artificial flowers.I will not be there to complain though will I.?

You are being unkind are you not? Death or passed away, surely it doesn't matter . Everyone knows passed away means he/she is dead,

And yes death brings such loss , a person has died and this leaves a partner, child with such a sense of loss

We had this thread just last year! that's what getting older does, you tell each other the same anecdotes over and over.
But just for the record.....I prefer died, but passed away is alright ( we know what it means) but passed is a bit, what, vague?

Yes there was a thread last year, thought the sofa comment was familiar

I have never heard anyone say passed , as for flowers, again if it helps the grieving ?

I dislike applause which has taken the place of a minutes silence

Thinking of flowers reminds me of a friends funeral 2 years ago. I may have posted about this before. We were asked to meet at the house and go off in procession. As the cars lined up, there were about 6, we were all given black flags to attach to the car so we all stayed together. It was very bizzare.
We were the second car and as the hearse started very slowly up the road with the funeral director walking slowly in front in full top hat ensemble I noticed at the bach of the hearse attached to some flowers, a large photograph of a complete stranger holding a baby. About 5 minutes passed until we stopped for the funeral director to get into the car when the vicar who was in the front car dashed out,had a few words and the photograph was hastily removed.
To this day I remain convinced we attended the cremation of the wrong person.

YES! It drives me MAD when I hear that expression! They have died it's final! They haven't passed on to somewhere else! They are dead!

We can but hope the poster who has a thread of her her sister passing away doesn't read this thread

Yes, I'm going to die too!! (Hopefully not just yet though )

I am hoping to pass through the pearly gates.

There is a thread in bereavement site using the term.
I think we should show some respect to the bereaved person and let let them use whatever they feel comfortable with.

Amen to that Cherry

Whether we die, pass away or just pass is one of the many things over which we have no control. The term will be used by those who remain and, by then, we leavers will neither know nor care.

Always look on the bright side of life ...

I have noticed the word "passed" being used now and thought aha this is one of those annoying new terms that have crept in. Passed away has been around for a while, doesn't bother me that much but I would opt for died.

On the subject of euphemisms per se, I don't like "on her monthlies" for period, or when referring to becoming pregnant "when I fell for" Maybe rather unfairly, I always think coyness emanates from America the land of the "restroom" a public space designated for bodily functions but dressed up as something else altogether.