The reality of death . . . the fact that we are mortal and are aware that this human experience is a limited engagement . . . is apparently at the core of many if not most avoidant behaviors and addictions. The topic and/or discussion of death generally makes us feel more uncomfortable than we are able to consciously recognize. To buffer ourselves from the feelings of anxiety we harbor unconsciously about what we know is true, we resort to euphemisms to indirectly reference death. Below is a list of common euphemisms that refer to the reality of “the human condition”, i.e. dead, death or dying.
Angels carried Him/Her away
Asleep
At room temperature
Awakened to eternal life
Before his/her time
Bereft of life
(The) Big Sleep
Bit the dust
Bite the big one
Bought a one-way ticket
Bought the farm (the “farm” might refer to a cemetery plot)
Breathed his/her last
Called to Christ/Our Lord
Cashed in (or “out”)
Cashed in his/her chips
Ceased to be
Checked into the Horizontal Hilton
Checked into the Motel Deep 6
Checked out
Climbed the stairway to heaven
Croaked
Crossed over
Crossed the Great Divide
(A) Debt we all must pay
Deceased
Deep Six
Defunct
Departed
Destroyed (generally used with pets)
Dirt nap
D.O.A. (acronym for “dead on arrival”)
Do not pass Go; Do not collect $200 (Monopoly anyone?)
Entered eternal rest
Entered the Pearly Gates
Entered the Sweet Hereafter
Expired
Faded away
Feeding the worms (or “became worm food”)
Flatlined
Fragged (this term is popular with video-gamers)
Gave up the ghost
Got his/her just reward
Got his/her wings
(The) Great Leveler
Hamlet sleep
His/Her number’s up
(The) Human condition
Immortality-challenged
Is in a better place
Is kaput
Is no more
Joined his/her ancestors
Journey’s end
Kicked the bucket
Kicked the can
Kicked the oxygen habit
Knocked on heaven’s door
Laid down his/her life
Late (as in “the late Mr. Jones”)
Launched into eternity
Leave/left this life
Left the building (often preceded by “Elvis has…”)
Liquidated
Living-challenged
Lost his/her life
Met an untimely end
Met his/her maker
No longer counted in the census
Not going to shop at Walmart anymore
Out of business
Passed (probably the most common euphemism in use today)
Passed away
Passed the point of no return
Pass on
Pay/paid the piper
Pegged out (likely borrowed from the game of cribbage)
Perished
Playing a harp
Pushing up daisies
Relinquished his/her life
Resting
Resting in peace
Rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible (from the classic Monty Python sketch, “Dead Parrot”)
Shuffled off the mortal coil (uttered most famously by Shakespeare’s Hamlet)
Six feet under (the traditional depth at which a body is buried)
Sleeps
Sleep with the fishes
Slipped away
Substantive negative outcome
Succumbed
Surrendered his/her life
Snuffed out
Terminated
Toes up
Took a permanent vacation
Turn to dust
Walked the plank
Was called home
Went the way of all flesh
Went to be with the Lord
Went to Davy Jones’ Locker
Went to the Happy Hunting Grounds
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