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Death euphemisms in different languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| egill Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5697 days ago 418 posts - 791 votes  Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 25 of 28 01 September 2012 at 7:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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"It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, shuffled of its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible"
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| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6273 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 26 of 28 07 January 2013 at 1:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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I like the American English "buy the farm".
Also, the phrase "go west" has been around since at least WWI in British English. I presume it has that meaning because the sun sets in the west. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4359 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 27 of 28 07 January 2013 at 3:42pm | IP Logged | ||
!!!!!!!!!We have the exact same in greek!!!!! Βλέπω τα ραδίκια ανάποδα. Rather rude though. We have many rude expressions for death now that I think about it... hmmm He shook the petals :τίναξε τα πέταλα, or just: he shook them. He croacked (or something of that sort): τα κακάρωσε. Μας άφησε χρόνους: he left us years Also He went to the other world: πήγε στον άλλο κόσμο Πήγε στον Άδη: he went to Hades Πήγε στον κάτω κόσμο: He went to the under world. The most polite one is: someone slept, and it is also used for saints, good people etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5767 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 28 of 28 12 January 2013 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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There are loads of these in English too - some of which with special connotations. I'll just mention the ones I can think of that haven't been mentioned already -
to give up the ghost - I think this can also be used of "things" as well. I've used it spontaneously about an old computer before. "to be sleeping with the fishes" - is used specifically of someone who died by drowning. to bite the dust - is used in a famous Queen song actually. I think it's supposed to refer to someone who died in a violent way, but because I've mainly heard it in said Queen song, called "Another one bites the dust", I almost find this one amusing. to pass on, to pass away - a polite way, to my ears, of just saying someone's died. I think I've heard "gathering the asphalt" once or twice. It's not very common I don't think, someone more in the know might contradict me. --- In response, I suppose, to all the people talking about smelling flowers from the other side, an old person who is still alive and perhaps not expected to be, is sometimes said to be "on the right side of the grass". Edited by LanguageSponge on 12 January 2013 at 3:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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