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Why don't people die anymore?

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Nelliemoser Sat 24-Jan-15 18:33:28

FlicketyB I think "died" is better. The more euphemisms we use, the more we ourselves are adding to the idea that we must not talk about the subject at all.

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annodomini Sat 24-Jan-15 18:12:54

It isn't just 'passed away'. The awful American euphemism 'passed' is now becoming common currency.

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FlicketyB Sat 24-Jan-15 17:43:27

When I was a child anybody using a euphemism for death; 'passed away', 'passed over' etc was considered prissy. Now everybody 'passes away'.

The BBC announce on the news that some famous person has 'passed away'. I heard a doctor on 24 hours in A&E this week tell a patient's family that there family member had 'passed away'.

Why do we no longer say that people have died? What is wrong with the word that describes what has happened? Why are we so enamoured of a euphemism that it is becoming the standard way of saying someone has died.

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