disappearing prepositions

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Oct 4, 2004, at 6:18 AM, Robert Wachal wrote:

> For me, "passed away" simply means 'died', but 'passed' means going
> over to
> the other side, to one's after death destination.

ah, then, for you the figure in "passed" (and presumably "passed over")
'passed (over) to the other side' is still live, but the figure in
"passed away" 'passed away from this world' isn't.  both, of course,
came to mean 'died' by implication.

i suspect that other speakers share your understanding of these items.
but i'm very sure that many simply treat them both as ways of saying
'died' without actually uttering that fatal word.

arnold