Passed What?

[bainbrig]

He didn't shoot, he seldom scored,
In fact he never tried;
And when the final whistle blew
He didn't pass - he died.

B

[Cloverjo]

I used to dislike 'passed away' until my son's best friend died recently at the age of 23. It felt too brutal to say he'd died. 'Passed away' feels slightly better, even if it doesn't change the horrible fact.

[jno]

When has anybody ever said "I'm just going to defecate?" Older phrases like "going to the bathroom" or "please Miss, may I leave the room?" were much more euphemistic. The language is getting more explicit, not less.

[jno]

Cloverjo, I agree. The recent thread on mikey said he'd passed away, not that he'd dropped dead, and rightly so.

[bhg481]

I think it's like lots of situations where you use an expression that is appropriate for the person you are talking to and who you are talking about, so you might use "died" to one person, "passed away" to another and "popped his clogs"/"kicked the bucket" to a third person.

[bhg481]

Following jno's post at 7:38, nobody was "pregnant" many years ago, they were "expecting", "with child", "have a bun in the oven" etc. Even "expecting" was whispered if there were small children about.

[bainbrig]

jno: know what you mean, but when adults talk about ‘poo’ I always think of little children - and certainly if I’m talking to my doctor I’ll talk about faeces or defecation.

It annoys me when doctors say things like “Have you been for a poo?” as if we’re five-year-olds.

[hereIam]

Lol tilly just saw your posts from last night, posting on the wrong thread can sometimes be amusing !

[jno]

Bainbrig, "defecate" is just as much of a euphemism - hiding what you're saying in Latin. The actual meaning of faeces in Latin was dregs. I believe the current usage dates from the Victorian era.

There is no standard word, but I think the four-letter one of Germanic origin is probably the most non-euphemistic one (though its meaning has now become cluttered by a tendency to use it to describe almost anything the speaker doesn't like).

[bainbrig]

No, jno, can’t agree. There is a set of words like-minded people use to each other. ‘Poo’ is part of the language of children. ‘Defecate’ is in the language of adults. ‘$h!t’, too, is adult, but I would use it with care - I think ‘swear’ words should be cautiously employed.

[jno]

Well, you're not really talking about euphemism here, as much as about different registers of language. Defecate may be a word used by adults, but not by many adults. Most will use the mildly sweary one or one of the euphemisms, depending which other adult they're talking to. But as I said, defecate is just another euphemism that avoids mentioning the, er, stuff.

[bainbrig]

Yes, but you'd better define euphemism. My web dictionary says:

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

which I find reasonable.

I don't think using any 'correct' word for anything can be described as a euphemism!

I wouldn't say to my doctor, oh yes, I've just been for a ‘$h!t’ any more than I'd tell him I'd had a good poo. One's (mildly) offensive, the other is infantile.

Language should be used in its right context, accurately.

BB

[Ken4155]

The medical profession talk of 'stools' and 'bowel movements'. Would be quite amusing if my doc asked me if i've had a good crap in the past few days :-)

[bainbrig]

But what annoys me, Ken, on TV and radio, is medical professionals trying to be so .’inclusive’ that they treat us all as children!

A Dave Allen story illustrates the point about absurd tweeness. He was with an American friend in Central Park when the friend cried out (asterisks not in the original: “F*** me, I’ve just trod in some doggy doo!”

[HansUrbancka]

I thought he may have been playing around with 'Dutchie'.....if you know what I mean. :-



In the song 'Dutchie' was an acceptable substitute for the original lyric: "Pass The Kutchie".

Hans.

[Mamyalynne]

I have never had a Doctor ask me if I have had a poo or a wee.

[bainbrig]

Listen to R4’s medical programmes, or most TV ‘doctors’. Everything is ‘poo’.

[Mamyalynne]

I don't really let what's on TV affect me much - if they've sanitised it they must have their reasons odd though it is.

[bainbrig]

Have you read Candide, Mamyalynne? Sometimes I think Voltaire might have had you in mind when he penned it.

[TeaTree]

As far as I may understand it, 'pass' means just transfer into another form of life, so to speak, like pass the house to go to another one or something like that. If a person dies, life no longer exists, and passing away is a process of transition.

[bainbrig]

There is truth in what you write, TeaTree, but even the Buddha, not one to mince his words, talked of death and dying. To deny death, simply by calling it something else, does not get round the fact of it!

I just wish more people would face up to existence, in all its simple truths (i.e. being born, living, and dying), and the sillier euphemisms strike me as being a way of avoiding the issue.

BB