In english
If you know more expressions, in any language, please send these to me: harryperonius@indiaphoto.org
Verbs for "to die":
- Be no more ("He is no more")
- Bite the dust (He/she bit the dust)
- Bought it (only in the past tense, "he bought it" = "he died") (not polite)
- Buy a farm (He bought the farm) (not polite)
(1. Probably from WW1: when a soldier died, the family received monetary compensation, and for some poor farming families, that was enough to buy off the mortgage and purchase their farm outright.
2.
A biblical reference to describe Judas, ACTS 1:18. “As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts.”).
- Cark it (Australia and NZ slang) (Our dog carked it) (Origin uncertain. A play on the word croak ‘to die’, or it may be a shortening of carcass)
- Code or, to go code (used in hospitals "He went code" or "He is code" or "He coded")
- Croak ("He croaked in June") (not polite)
- Depart ("She departed in June")
- Draw your terminal breath (Monty Python)
- Expire
- Final discharge
- Give up the ghost ("She gave up the ghost")
- Go on ("He went on in June")
- Go west (Association with the West, where the sun sets)
- Join the great majority
-
Kick the bucket ("He kicked the bucket in June") (not polite)
- Last apartment (He will soon go to his last apartment)
-
Leave us (only in past tense, "She left us in June")
- Leave this world ("She left this world in June")
- Long illness = Die of cancer. (someone has died after a long illness)
- Meet your maker ("She has gone to meet her maker")
- Pass away ("He passed away in June")
- Ultimare trip
Expressions meaning you are dying:
- Be a goner ("She's a goner") (from "gone", past participle of "to go")
- Be on your last legs ("She's on her last legs")
- Breathe your last ("He's breathing his last")
- Code or to go code ("She's coding" or "She's going code")
- Have your number up ("His number is up" = "He's dying")
- He / She will never make old bones (If someone lives dangerously. Drives too fast, eats / drinks too much ) (Sussex, England)
- Not to have long for this world ("He doesn't have long for this
world")
- Not to last much longer ("He won't last much longer" = "He will die soon")
- Not to make it ("She isn't going to make it through the night" =
"She will die tonight")
- One foot in the grave
- One foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel
- Waiting to see if I´m going to wake up
Expressions meaning "To be dead":
- Be with Jesus now ("Mother is with Jesus now")
- Cross the great divide ("Father has crossed the great divide")
- Deceased
- Demise
- Departed
- Feeding the worms
- Late (very formal, "the late Mr. Smith " means "Mr. Smith , who is dead")
- Lifeless
- No longer with us
-
Push up daisies ("He is pushing up the daisies") (not polite)
- Rest in peace ("She rests in peace")
- Six feet under ("She is six feet under" = "she is dead")
- Sleep
Expression for a Corpse:
- A cold one. (dead person "He's a cold one.")
- Booty. (slang for dead body, not polite) The Post - a "posted" body, or autopsied body) A "posted- case".
- Cadaver. (proper name for a dead human body used for learning at medical schools)
- Decomp. (a body that is dead and has already entered the first stages of decomposition (gas, odor, discoloration, purge, skin-slip). Trade term in USA.)
- Floater. (someone who died due to drowning. Impolite - mortuary
trade term in US)
- HR. (abbreviation for "Human Remains" frequently used by airlines for shipping purposes.")
- Pumpkin-head. (someone who died as a result of a contact
gunshot wound to head. (impolite).
- Remains (compare Cremains = ashes)
- Stiff. ("Where do we hide the stiff?") (not polite)
The Death:
- The Grim Reaper
- Quietus (Meet one´s quietus)
Release from life .
Other terminology:
- Brief illness = on the obituary, instead of suicide (compare Long illness = cancer)
- Cremains = ashes
- Dispatch = to kill
- Dispose = to kill
- Die by his own hand = commit suicide
- Happy Hunting Grounds = Heaven
- Happy land = Heaven
- Interment = burial
- Inurnment = burial of ashes
- Liquidate = kill
- Lose somebody = somebody dies
- Put away / down / out / to sleep = kill (usually in connection with animals)
- Send somebody up Green River = kill somebody (Referred to the "Green River" knives. Among mountain men in the West in the nineteenth century)
- Slumber robe (undertakers often use in stead of Shroud)
- Undiscovered country (Hamlet, Shakespeare) = Heaven
- Vital statistics form (undertakers often use in stead of Death Certificate)
Death related terminology and quotes:
- Cinerarium or Columbarium (Cemeteries for urns)
- Memento mori : an object as a warning or reminder of death, such as a skull.
(Origin: Latin, literally: "rememer (that you have) to die", Remember that you are mortal.
- Necro-, Greek prefix meaning death.
- Necrology: A listing of people who have died during a specific time period.
- Obituary: A notice of a death, especailly in a newspaper.
- Thanatology : the scientific study of death and the practices associated with it, including the study of the needs of the terminally ill and their familie.
- Thanatos : the death instinct (in freudian theory). Origin from Greek, the God of death.
- You can be larger than life, but not death.
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Swedish
(Most of them with english translations)
- Avlida (Die)
- Avsomna (Fall asleep)
- Bane
- Bli hemkallad (Be asked to come home)
- Evig sömn (Eternal sleep)
- Framliden
- Frånfälle (Demise)
- Förgänglig
- Gå hem (Go home)
- Gå bort (Go away)
- Gå dit upp (Go up there)
- Gå hädan
- Gå till sina förfäder (Go to your forfathers)
- Gå i graven (Go into the grave)
- Gå till de sälla jaktmarkerna (Go to the blissful hunting-grounds)
- Hamna under stenen (End up under the stone)
- Hädanfärd
- Insomna (Fall asleep)
- Komma till andra sidan (Come to the other side)
- Ligga på sitt yttersta (To be in your ultimate condition)
- Livlös (Lifeless)
- Lämna det timliga (To leave the earthly)
- Lämna in (Hand in)
- Tiden hinner fatt (The time catches you up)
- Sluta jordevandringen (Finish your earthly wandering)
- Vissna bort (Wither away)
- Ändalykt
Skämtsamma uttryck (Humorous expressions):
- Kila vidare (Hurry on)
- Kola vippen (Derives from Finnish "kuolla" = to die)
- Trilla av pinnen (Fall off the perch)
- Ta ner skylten (Take down the signboard)
- Dra in åran (Pull in the oar)
- Knacka på hos Sankte Per (Knock on the door at S:t Peter´s)
- Krypa till korset (Climb up to the cross)
- Ställa in tofflorna (Put away the slippers)
- Ställa in stolen (Put away the chair)
- Ta på sig träfrack (Put on a wooden dress suit)
- Sista sucken (The last sigh)
- Sätta sig på tvären
- Parkera bussen (om en död busschaufför) (Park the bus (about bus drivers) )
- Satsa på att bli ko (hinduer) (Planning to become a cow (hindues) )
- Boota om (om man tror på reinkarnation) (Reboot
(if you believe in reincarnation) )
- Logga ut (Log out)
- Dra ut sladden (Disconnect the cord)
- Pilla på reset-knappen (Mess about with the reset button)
- Klippa kabeln (Cut the cable)
- Klippa band som kungen (Cut the ribbon as the king)
- Leka Jesus (Play Jesus)
- Gå och lägga sig (Go to bed)
- Gå bakom hörnet (Go behind the door)
- Lyfta på hatten (Lift your hat)
- Slänga in handduken (Throw in the towel)
- Tacka för kaffet (To thank for the coffee)
- Bli minimalist (Become a minimalist)
- Sätta huvet på spiken för hårt (Hit your head too hard on a nail)
- Ofrivilligt självmord (Involuntary suicide)
- Pensionerad självmördare (A retired suicide)
- Få besök av Dr. Watson (Get a visit from Dr. Watson)
- Ridåfall (Curtain-fall)
Skämtsamma uttryck för självmord (Jokingly about suicide, not polite):
- Bita kapseln (Bite the capsule)
- Fimpa (Stub out)
- Göra pinan kort (Make the suffering short)
- Lik-wannabe (en självmördare) (A corpse wannebe (a suicidal person) )
- Ta bort sig (Take oneself away) (Norrland)
- Ta en överdos (Take an overdose)
- Ta fönstervägen (Use the window to get out)
Övriga ord och uttryck:
-
Tanatologi = som rör döendet och döden. Thanatos: Dödens gud i Grekisk mytologi, symbol: neråtvänd fackla. I Romersk mytologi fanns ingen motsvarighet. (Jmf: Hades, underjordens gud)
- Memento mori = kom ihåg att du skall dö. (Under romartiden viskade man dessa ord i örat på kejsaren när han stod inför det jublande folket, för att motverka övermod hos honom. Man påminde honom om att även han var dödlig! Användes även undet Barocken)
- Vård (minnesvård, gravvård) Något som är uppsatt eller rest som minnesmärke, gravsten eller dylikt.
- De sälla jaktmarkerna (säll = lycklig, salig) Enligt vissa indianfolk den plats där själen befinner sej efter döden.
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