| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| pass, pass away, pass on (vv.) |
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| are all euphemisms for the verb die, and we’re quite accustomed to reading passed away in obituaries, perhaps especially those appearing in small-town newspapers, where almost every reader is personally acquainted with the deceased. Pass on is much the same; pass, as in Aunt Mary passed late last night, is probably dialectal, from Southern or South Midland. Cynics and the worldly wise sometimes ridicule those who can’t bring themselves to say died and dead, but here the euphemism is harmless and prompted by a decent instinct; if pass away and passed on make the bereaved feel any less miserable, to use them need not always be judged dishonest. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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