60 Euphemisms for Death! | Otherwords

No topic is as universally avoided--yet universally unavoidable--as DEATH. So, it's got a lot of euphemisms in virtually every language.

Otherwords is a new PBS web series on Storied that digs deep into this quintessential human trait of language and fınds the fascinating, thought-provoking, and funny stories behind the words and sounds we take for granted. Incorporating the fıelds of biology, history, cultural studies, literature, and more, linguistics has something for everyone and offers a unique perspective into what it means to be human.

hosted by Dr. Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D.
written by Dr. Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D. & Andrew Matthews
directed by Andrew Matthews & Katie Graham
produced by Katie Graham
animated & edited by Andrew Matthews
executive producer Amanda Fox
fact checker Yvonne McGreevy
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): Niki Walker
Executives in Charge (PBS): Adam Dylewski, Jess Kasza

music by APM
images by Shutterstock

[juanjuri]

i love how in chilean spanish we say someone LEFT FOR THE COURTYARD OF THE SILENT ONES and in english it *sounds* ominous but we just mean it like "lol he dead"

[amrys_argent]

When I worked at the library, when a patron came up the to the counter, sometimes I'd ask them if they were ready to check out. One older man answered, "Boy, I sure hope not!"

[kathleenjackson]

Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch was my first introduction to the many euphemisms for death. Thank you John Cleese.

[CoconutMigrationCommittee]

This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He's passed on. He’s gone to meet his maker. He’s run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. He’s pushing up the daisies, he's a stiff, bereft of life. He's snuffed it. He rests in peace. He's bleedin' demised! This is an ex parrot!

[DonnaBarrHerself]

Evangelicals “went to the other side.” This explains why the chicken road joke was so funny: “Get to the other side” meant “died.”

[highfive]

You "killed it" with this topic. It was both entertaining and well done. 👍

[lf]

Some famous dysphemism in Brazil are "eating grass by the root" and "becoming a ham".
I think we have some kind of messy dark humor.

[naomistarlight]

I like in "A Knight's Tale" when they said "His spirit is gone but his stench remains."

[Kumimono]

"Let out a cold fart" is a nice (?) one from Finland.

I heard the "bought a farm" was used for soldiers who got killed, and had an insurance enabling relatives to, buy a farm.

[ClaudioYanes]

"Se fue de gira" (he's gone on tour), a popular euphemism for artists in Argentina.

[eomguel]

In Mexico a common expression is "se petateó, " which derives from the Aztec tradition to wrap the body of a deceased person in the mat they used to sleep on, called "petate." But perhaps the most interesting and unapologetic idiomatic expression is "chupó faros" (they sucked lighthouses, if translated literally). Rumor has it that it originated during the Mexican Revolution, when those executed by firing squad would be offered a cigarette of a cheap brand called Faros (lighthouses in Spanish)... You get the idea. 😆😅😳

[queensectonia]

I’d love a video like this for all the euphemisms for insanity. There’s so many unique and creative ones such as ‘not playing with a full deck’ or ‘the lights not being on upstairs.’

[Genzafel]

Other Mexican Euphemism include:

Esta con la huesuda (Its with the bony one)
Cruzo el rio con los perros (Crossed the river with dogs, Aztecs believe when you die all the dogs you owned and helped in your life Help you cross the river to the other side, If you were bad you cross alone and chances are you will be drag by the current)

[metleon]

Thanks. Now I can get around every censor.

Also, "Now put on your wooden pajamas and use the Earth as a blanket" sounds way more metal than it should.

[starwall]

as kids we somehow misconstrued "throw into the woods" as a euphemism for death. it originated from how we'd throw rotten vegetables off the back porch and a misunderstanding from burying a dead pet hamster in the backyard woods but the phrase stuck and now it's still something our family uses as a euphemism for death.

[none]

In the Atlanta music community, we “lost” a well known piano player (to natural causes) right before we went into Covid lockdown. We loved him, but we joked that he really knew “when to fold ‘em.”

[GryphonBrokewing]

This would have been a fun crossover with Caitlin Doughty...Well done as a solo exploration of the words we use to deny mortality.

[nd-unbtaind]

my at the time 98 year old neighbor who refused to go to a retirement home used to always say “ik verlaat dit huis alleen tussen zes plankjes”, which translates to “i’ll only leave this house between six planks” (referring to a coffin). i really like how blunt that saying is.

[bjorn]

A few good Swedish ones:
Take down the sign
Bite the grass
Walk out of time
Put on the wooden tux
Pop round the corner
Fall off the branch
Turn your nose to the weather

[tutu]

In Brazil (where im from) we have another saying that is basically “Im gonna delete your CPF” which is our equivalent to a social security number, although it relates more to assasination rather than death itself