If an obituary says "passed away" does that typically mean suicide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"passed away suddenly at home" means suicide.

I would not interpret it this way at all.

[Anonymous]

Why do people say that someone "passed"? Why not just say that he or she died? Does saying "passed" really make them feel better? I don't like euphemisms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twice in the last couple months I have come across the obituary of a "friend of a friend" who has died. In both cases, it only said "passed away" with no indication of how.

#1 was a 40 something male who was an intense athlete--in excellent shape with no mention of health condition/disease (like cancer) or being in an accident or the victim of an assault, etc.

#2 was a college student in his early 20's. Again, no mention of an accident, disease, etc.

Are these likely suicides? Drug overdose?

Sometimes passed away just means they just passed away.

[Anonymous]

Passed away suddenly under the age of 50 means suicide or overdose.

[Anonymous]

In the Post obituaries—passed away is used 95% of the time from the elderly to the young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say that someone "passed"? Why not just say that he or she died? Does saying "passed" really make them feel better? I don't like euphemisms.

It is an interesting class delineation. Upper class say “died,” middle-class say “passed away” — according to Paul Fussell, Historian and author of book called “Class: Guide through America class system” (or something like that title).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are worried about what people think, just put it out there, write down what the person died of and stop the guessing game.

Pp, not sure why you resurrected this thread, but leave people to grieve how they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Passed away suddenly under the age of 50 means suicide or overdose.

Nope. It's just what middle class people say when their relatives die. My elderly mom and dad, "passed away." Very common in the south and in the Washington Post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Passed away suddenly under the age of 50 means suicide or overdose.

Or car accident/heart attack/murder?

[Anonymous]

I depends on which syllable is accented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Passed away suddenly under the age of 50 means suicide or overdose.

Or car accident/heart attack/murder?

If any of the above are the cause of death in someone <50, it almost always says so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say that someone "passed"? Why not just say that he or she died? Does saying "passed" really make them feel better? I don't like euphemisms.

Because my throat closes when I try to say the word 'died' after naming a loved one. I can say passed and it's somehow easier on my brain/throat/doesn't get me emotional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"passed away suddenly at home" means suicide.

what? there are heart attacks, strokes, throwing major pulmonary emboli, aortic dissections etc --many reasons to pass away suddenly at home!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we were writing the obit after my brother recently died of sudden (and completely out of the blue) heart failure, we had intended to write "passed away unexpectedly", but the priest told us that often people use "unexpectedly" in an obit if they want to indicate suicide, so to think about whether we want to use the word. As others have said, "passed away" thing just means died.

I’ve lost a sibling in a similar manner- I’m sorry for your loss.

[Anonymous]

"passed away suddenly at home" means suicide.

no it doesn't... people die at home of old age, terminal illness, murder, freak accidents, and more. plus, not all suicides happen at home!