It's ok, you're allowed to say it

It's very sad when someone dies.

The thing that gets me though is how when people are passing on the news they bet around the bush, afraid to actually say that someone has died.

Instead we get 'they've gone', or 'they've passed'.

Gone where? The hospital's TV room?

Passed what? Wind? A stone?

'He's gone to meet his maker'. Oh that's nice, I bet his parents have missed him.

You can be talking to some about a mutual friend 'moving on' and you're thinking how rude to leave town without saying goodbye, oblivious to the fact that they have died because no one will actually say the word.

It's not a bad word.

It's a very sad event, but however it's worded doesn't change the fact.

When someone dies we have enough to worry about without trying to find new ways to pass on the news without actually saying it.