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Death euphemisms in different languages

 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room Post Reply
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Medulin
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 Message 17 of 28
30 August 2012 at 5:09pm | IP Logged 
In Brazilian Portuguese:

Bater as botas (''beat the boots'')
Abotoar /fechar o paletó (''button the jacket up'')
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patuco
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 Message 18 of 28
30 August 2012 at 5:39pm | IP Logged 
Spanish
Estirar la pata = Stretch your leg
Pasar a mejor vida = Move on to a better life
Criar malvas = Grow daisies


In Gibraltar, we also use:
Quedarse tieso = Become stiff
Quedarse en su sitio = To remain in your place

I don't know how common they are in other Spanish-speaking places.

Edited by patuco on 30 August 2012 at 10:24pm

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montmorency
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 Message 19 of 28
30 August 2012 at 5:46pm | IP Logged 
I found another German one recently:

"Den Loffel abgeben" - to hand in the spoon, or figuratively "to kick the bucket"
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Majka
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 Message 20 of 28
30 August 2012 at 7:11pm | IP Logged 
In Czech, there are:

"the stretching idioms" - natáhnout brka (stretch out ones quills / feathers), natáhnout bačkory / papuče (stretch out the slippers)

"the shaking idiom" -zaklepat bačkorama (pop one's clogs)

"the going idioms" - jít pod drn (go under sod ) / pod kytičky -(under the flowers)

"the went away to idioms" - odešel k pánu (went to the Lord), odešel na věčnost (went into the ethernity), odešel do věčných lovišť (went into the happy hunting grounds), na pravdu boží (went to the Lord's truth)
and the classic odešel na pravdu Leninovu (went to the Lenin's truth)

then, the "smelling and snuffing idioms" - čichat k fialkám zespoda (smelling the violets from below) and čuchat hlínu (snuffing the dirt)

similar - prdět do hlíny (farting into the dirt)

And finally, there is the "death of the artifical intelligence" for robots and calculators and laptops, less often for PCs - odešel do křemíkového nebe (went away into silicon heaven).


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Serpent
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 Message 21 of 28
30 August 2012 at 7:35pm | IP Logged 
I don't like this subject so my favourite one is the simple Polish way: nie żyje - meaning that he/she is "not alive".
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Majka
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 Message 22 of 28
30 August 2012 at 7:51pm | IP Logged 
OK, one more Czech euphemism:

vzala ho zubatá - the teethy one has taken him (Grim Reaper)



Edited by Majka on 30 August 2012 at 7:52pm

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montmorency
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 Message 23 of 28
30 August 2012 at 9:53pm | IP Logged 
Interesting that someone brought up its use in the robot / computer sphere, which
reminds me (painfully actually) that we talk about hard disks dying (or having a "head
crash".


Back when I was starting in the world of computers, we'd often talk about computer
programs (or jobs in a batch environment) "falling over", or even the operating system
or the computer itself "falling over". That was a kind of euphemism. "crash(ed)" was an
alternative.


In the IBM mainframe world, programs or jobs could "abend" (abnormally end), optionally
with a (core or memory) "dump". British English in those days didn't know about the
rather indelicate American connotation attached to the word "dump", and I smile now as
I think of all those well-brought up English girls saying that a job was "taking a
dump", not realising what it could also mean. :-)
(The world has changed though, and young girls now probably use language that would
make a Billingsgate porter blush without a second thought).


Other phrases that might have been used or used now might be "gone belly up" (or "tits
up").



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RG
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 Message 24 of 28
01 September 2012 at 4:54pm | IP Logged 
Medulin wrote:
In Brazilian Portuguese:

Abotoar /fechar o paleto (''button the jacket up'')


I'm not saying we don't say it, but I never heard "abotoar/fechar o paleto".

Some more from Brazilian Portuguese:

"Ir desta para melhor": depart from this to a better one
"Dar/exalar o último suspiro": give/exhale the last breath
"Dormir o sono eterno": to sleep the forever sleep
"Descançar em paz": to rest in peace
"Empacotar": "to pack"


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