Euphemism

A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces.

Euphemisms for death

The English language contains numerous euphemisms related to dying, death, burial, and the people and places which deal with death. The practice of using euphemisms for death is likely to have originated with the "magical" belief that to speak the word 'death' was to invite death (where to "draw Death's attention" is the ultimate bad-fortune -- a common theory holds that death is a taboo subject in most English-speaking cultures for precisely this reason).

Related Topics:
Death - Burial - "magical"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It may be said said that one is not dying, but fading quickly because the end is near. People who have died are referred to as having passed away or departed. Deceased is a euphemism for 'dead', and sometimes the deceased is said to have gone to a better place, but this is used primarily among the religious with a concept of heaven.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are many euphemisms for the dead body, some polite and some profane, as well as dysphemisms such as worm food, or dead meat. The corpse was once referred to as the shroud (or house or tenement) of clay, and modern funerary workers use terms such as the loved one (title of a novel about Hollywood undertakers by Evelyn Waugh) or the dearly departed. (They themselves have given up the euphemism funeral director for grief therapist, and hold arrangement conferences with relatives.) Among themselves, mortuary technicians often refer to the corpse as the client.

Related Topics:
Dysphemism - Novel - Hollywood - Evelyn Waugh

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Contemporary euphemisms for death tend to be quite colorful, and someone who has died is said to have passed away, passed on, bit the big one, bought the farm, croaked, given up the ghost, kicked the bucket, gone south, tits up, shuffled off this mortal coil (from William Shakespeare's Hamlet), or assumed room temperature. When buried, they may be said to be pushing up daisies or taking a dirt nap. There are hundreds of such expressions in use.

Related Topics:
William Shakespeare - Hamlet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euthanasia also attracts euphemisms. One may put him out of his misery, or put him to sleep, the latter phrase being used primarily with non-humans.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are a few euphemisms for killing which are neither respectful nor playful, but rather clinical and detached. Some examples of this type are terminate, wet work, to take care of one or to take them for a ride, to do them in, to off, frag, smoke, or waste someone. To cut loose (from U.S. Sgt. Massey's account of activities during the American occupation of Iraq) or open up on someone, means 'to shoot at with every weapon available'.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dead Parrot Sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus contains an extensive list of euphemisms for death, referring to the deceased parrot that the character played by John Cleese purchases. A similar passage occurs near the beginning of The Twelve Chairs, where Bezenchuk, the undertaker, astonishes Vorobyaninov with his classification of people by the euphemisms used to speak of their deaths.

Related Topics:
Dead Parrot Sketch - Monty Python's Flying Circus - John Cleese - The Twelve Chairs

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~