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hlthe2b

(102,292 posts)
5. No offense, but every time I hear someone use the euphemism "passed away"... I can't help but think
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 09:41 AM
Feb 2018

of that episode of Rosanne where sister Jackie tries to tell her hard-to hear aunt by phone that her Father had "passed away", "was gone", "was lost", then finally, loudly, "Dad'S DEAD!!!!!" -- dark humor, I know, but it really resonated with me, who had to make those awful calls repeatedly to some relatives who were so centered on themselves they took forever to get the message.


 

Liberalagogo

(1,770 posts)
10. That was one of the best episodes of that series
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 01:12 PM
Feb 2018

I loved the part where Jackie is in the funeral home looking at the casket catalog and tells the funeral director that she's "in a very bad place right now so I'm liable to buy anything you put in front of me. But I'm just as liable to pull out a gun and blow your head off if I think you're trying to take advantage of me. So I'd play me very carefully."

It's weird that some of the best sitcom episodes were about death:
Mary Tyler Moore: Chuckle the Clown's funeral
Bob Newhart: Mr. Gianelli's death
Maude: the brooch in the coffin

etc...

hlthe2b

(102,292 posts)
11. Oh, yes.. though Chuckle the Clown was just the Best!
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 01:43 PM
Feb 2018

Last edited Wed Feb 21, 2018, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Why is "death" so able to produce humor? I think it is the tension release...

I will never forget the very hot summer day when I and about 8 other cousins and Uncle were piled into a car in a very rural area coming back from the graveside service for my late Grandmother. When my cousin suggested we stop for a "coke" as he drove near a little Mom and Pop store in the middle of nowhere, you could feel the relief from all his sweaty riders. Then as we drove the 20 or so miles back, after taking our first sip we unexpectedly and in near unison let out a unconscious, reflexive "ahhh"...

Maybe you had to be there, but to this day, it has all my remaining living relatives there last day just cracking up at the memory...

Lest I forget to say, we all really DID love my Grandmother....

Aristus

(66,387 posts)
19. I read about a particular incident in a book by a young doctor.
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 03:35 PM
Feb 2018

She had a young nurse on the ward from some Southern town, and the nurse was giving the overnight to the doctor who was just coming on shift.

She said a certain patient had "passed".

"Passed what? Passed urine? Passed stool? What?"

"She passed...she passed on. She passed away."

"You mean she died?"

"Yes..."

Then say 'she died'! This isn't East Cornpone, or wherever you're from. Use medical terminology."

I think that would make a good scene in a TV medical drama. Euphemisms don't cut it down in the trenches.

kentuck

(111,103 posts)
9. When I was a child in the Bible Belt...
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 10:09 AM
Feb 2018

Billy Graham was treated like a saint. He was highly respected. Politicians vied for his attention. He seemed to be conscious of not mixing politics with religion. His time with Nixon probably did not help his reputation. But, even today, he was like an icon from my youth.

BigDemVoter

(4,150 posts)
12. A raging anti-semite. I could never understand his appeal.
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 01:45 PM
Feb 2018

And I cannot say I'm sorry he's gone.

Billy Graham was left sputtering when he was busted on the Nixon White House tapes railing against Jews. . . .

Ilsa

(61,695 posts)
13. Some humor from Golum:
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 01:57 PM
Feb 2018



The GREAT Billrond Gramms is deads. There was nobody likes him! He will be missed by Elfs and all magickers. Sméagol began to pretends he was Elfangelical when he wons the Precious.

10:40 AM - Feb 21, 2018


LeftInTX

(25,372 posts)
17. Now his son will be competely unchained.
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 03:17 PM
Feb 2018

I don't know if Billy had any reigns on his son or not.
If he did, they have come off.

Behind the Aegis

(53,959 posts)
18. "You should never say bad things about the dead, only good
Wed Feb 21, 2018, 03:29 PM
Feb 2018

...Billy Graham is dead. Good.” -- paraphrasing the late Bette Davis.

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