Why I say that someone died, and not ‘passed away’

I have written plenty of obituaries over my time, and by that I mean news stories about public figures whose lives were remarkable. I also wrote or edited many articles involving death.

There’s a language preference that I have that I know strikes some people as cold. I generally wrote that someone died, plain and simple. Like many journalists, I don’t much care for a phrase like “pass away.” It’s a euphemism.

“Died” is not rude, nor is it unnecessarily blunt.

It’s factual. It’s true. It’s also a clear, fair way to write about a subject.

By the way, I don’t object to when I hear others say something like “passed away” in conversation. Indeed, my wife and I found it charming when a financial planner used the phrase “meeting the angels” as a wink to an inevitable part of the process.

But in writing, for me, it’s best to be clear and straight forward. In the same way I respect medical examiners who strive for identifying truth in death, I feel journalists should be factual in what we write.

This point is made in various journalistic style guides. The CBC Language Guide (which I used for many years) is in line with other newspapers, broadcasters and wire services, including The Associated Press, which once put it this way in a post: “While many people use softer phrases like passed on or passed away, AP style does not use such euphemisms except in direct quotations. We suggest being clear and direct with the words death or died.”