PASSED (AWAY) (was 'disappearing prepositions')

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

I never heard PASSED for PASSED AWAY until 1967, when I moved from Iowa to 
North Carolina, where I began to hear it in the speech of African Americans of 
all social classes. I also have a sense that it was found then in folk speech 
among whites as well. I don't know what the DARE files might tell us about 
this, but my guess is that it is (or at least was) a Southernism.

In a message dated 10/4/04 5:21:09 PM, zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU writes:


> 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
> 
>