re: Died or Passed...what do you say?

quote:

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To me "died" implied it was sudden or unexpected. Passed away implies it was foreseen or anticipated for some time.

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"Died" doesn't imply anything. It means that they stopped living. "Passed away" or just "passed" is a more gentle way of saying the same thing, again without any different implication.

I had "passed away" and hate "passed" more. Dead, died and death are the only proper way to refer to someone's death for me. I often have to correct clients who say "if I die" - the conversation stops right there and I point out that there is no "if," only "when."

People don't like to talk about death and don't even like to say the word "death" or "die." Some of it is superstition, thinking that talking about it can make it happen, or the simple fear of something that is inevitable. It leads to so many problems in healthcare and the law - people not making plans for an untimely or less painful death process - and causing themselves and their families needless hardship, suffering and grief. To be clear, this isn't caused by the semantics of death, but the supposed distinction between "passed away" and "died" is surely a symptom of that bigger problem.