IMMORTAL. etc. -=- WAS Railroad cart

[Susan Burt]

It's curious that another euphemism one sometimes reads for someone in
bad health, whose "passing" may be immanent, is that they are
"failing."

Susan

On Apr 19, 2007, at 8:35 PM, James C Stalker wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James C Stalker <stalker at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: IMMORTAL. etc. =?utf-8?Q?-=3D-?= WAS Railroad cart
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> --------
>
> Passed = passed over, as he in "He has passed over the River Jordan."
> Perhaps, passed on (to another realm, life, depending on ones
> beliefs).  I
> have most typically heard "passed over" rather than "passed on," I
> think.
>
> Late: perhaps a shortening of "lately of this world"?
>
> JCS
>
> Doug Harris writes:
>
>> Similarly, why do we refer to someone who's "passed"
>> (passed???? -- what? Go? Did they collect their $200??)
>> as "late". The latter clearly sets up false hope, as
>> the supposedly 'late' person most assuredly isn't coming.
>> Unless, of course, it's a second coming... but that's
>> another issue altogether.
>> (the other) doug
>>
>>
>> (Why do we call people "immortal" only after they're dead?)
>>
>> m a m
>>
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>
>
> James C. Stalker
> Department of English
> Michigan State University
>
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