Is this accurate in your experience?

I have never in my life heard anyone say “slipped away” to mean “died.” Some of these are not neutral words. “Lost his/her battle” and “succumbed [to something]” mean that the person died of some sort of disease/injury. “Lost his/her battle” is especially common for victims of cancer. “Was called home” and anything referencing a “Lord” are explicitly religious. For a neutral, respectful (tactful) word, I would stick with “passed away.” For some folks, “died” can be too direct if used of someone they know personally.

Obituaries are usually written by the funeral home, and they can be a bit over the top with the euphemisms. In Georgia, I mainly hear “passed away”.

Obituaries use language that is never (or very rarely) used elsewhere. “He is survived by his wife and three children.” If you are saying to yourself “I’ve never seen ‘survived’ used like that”, this is why. Stick with “died” or “passed away” if you want to be gentle and more formal.

Maybe I'm too much of a city boy for this but I've never once heard someone in NC say "went home" in reference to death

The most common for every state is going to be “died”. I grew up in South Carolina and live in Georgia. I have never heard “entered eternal rest” and it sounds cringey af.

Please note that these are (supposedly) "most characteristic" *not* most common. That means that (again if this is true) someone who describes death using the word "succumbed" has a good chance to be from one of those states on the left of the map. It *doesn't* mean that people in those states use "succumbed" when describing death most of the time.

We're from Indiana and my dad's obit said "passed away" iirc, so this seems to be accurate I personally prefer "went home". It just sounds the nicest I think out of all these options

It also depends on HOW they died. For example, if you died of cancer, you'd more likely use succumbed than departed, I'd imagine.

Don't take it seriously. Obituaries don't use the same language people speak every day. I have never in my life heard "entered eternal rest".

“Went home” is very commonly used in North Carolina. Usually it’s “went home to be with the lord” or some variation of that.

These are just fancy obituary ways to say it. “Entered eternal rest” would not likely ever be said in casual conversation.

Lived most of my life in WV (birth-28) and I have never in my life heard someone say "Grandma went home" to mean "Grandma died"

I'm from suburban Illinois and Wisconsin. This is accurate to our states.

I'm pretty sure "passed away" is the most common euphemism for "died."

In FL where I was from it was definitely passed away. Uncle Donny passed away after his drunken fight with the gator out back.

I would recommend sticking with "died", but I actually have heard a lot of "went home" here in Ohio

Never heard half of these terms. "Died", "Passed away" are by far the two most common uses. Others are generally niche phrases used in a niche thing (obituaries).

Succumbed goes hard ngl

this is some clickbait bullshit. pls downvote. keep the internet real.

My family uses "(name) has grown his/her wings on (Day, Month, Year, Time)" still sounds better tho🥹

Obituaries =/= everyday speech. Also, the infographic is dated ten years ago. "Lost his/her battle" and "succumbed" presume that the person died of something like cancer, which they spent months or years trying to overcome before their death. They were fighting it until they died. "Went to be with the Lord" and "Went/Was called home" are specifically Christian euphemisms, implying that the dead person has gone to Heaven. "Left this world," "slipped away," and "entered eternal rest" are poetic. You're trying very hard to make it sound like this isn't a horrible tragedy, the way a dog owner might try very hard not to say "walk" or "treat" in front of their dog. (Usually, this kind of evasion is done to not upset the deceased's loved ones by hammering home that someone they loved has died. Sometimes, they prefer the directness, though.) "Departed" is weirdly formal. Also, kind of ambiguous, as you can "depart" from a lot of things other than life itself. It also falls into the poetic, "don't say 'walk' in front of the dog," category. The most normal thing to say is "passed away" (gentle) or "died" (direct).

I’m surprised “passed away” isn’t on here, as that is generally the most common / most polite why to say someone died.

I don’t think I’ve ever read any obituaries in California (except relatives) but my default is “passed away” if discussing the act of dying, or “died *of*” if discussing a medical cause of death. “Died in a/an [type of accident or event]” is also a phrase I’d use; and “died by suicide.” Succumbed, to me, has very specific connotations of dying after a lengthy medical struggle.

I remember one time my mom told my aunt that my grandma was "in heaven". My mom meaning she was very happy. My aunt thinking she had died 😅 This started a year long argument between the two lol.

the most common words in obituaries are almost certainly "died" and "passed away" in all states. really, these sorts of word maps are always misleading and unhelpful. the data is basically the same from state to state, and they're just taking the small random variations between them and making them seem like they mean something- that's why the map is titled "most ***characteristic*** words..." and not "most ***common*** words..." see: [xkcd.com/1845](http://xkcd.com/1845)

Native Marylander here and “departed” isn’t a thing I’ve ever heard. Weird.

I don’t spend a lot of time reading obituaries. I would usually say “they died” or “they passed away”

In Boston I believe it's "closed their eyes and slipped away"

we just say they "passed" down in texas

No, it looks very weird. Americans don't speak in scriptural language and cadence.

This is not accurate at all. In Tennessee, we would say, “passed away”

Utahn here. I hear passed away a whole lot more than I hear slipped away. I don't know if I've ever heard someone say that before in my life actually.

*Our dear friend Mark has ascended to the Valhalla halls in a chariot of fire*😢

What's going on in Nevada

[https://xkcd.com/1845/](https://xkcd.com/1845/)

Joined the choir insvisible?

“Passed away” is the formal way to say this in regular written and spoken English. Died is more informal and you use it either for people you don’t know (eg pope Francis died, but even then people would be respectful and say pass away). You could say “this bird was flying and hit the window, and it died on impact”

So... Californians say cucumbered or something, i don't i'm not American

Lost their battle is most common? Sheesh that's a lot of cancer.

People really say succumbed? Indiana is the only place to say “Passed Away?” I thought this was a common thing

Glad to see my home state is on team “died”. I hate pusillanimous funeral-speak.

I'm Texan, never ever heard 'entered eternal rest' before

I love the ones that call the dead person a loser

Hawaii here, and I just had a look at our online obituaries. Its about 90% "died", most of the rest is "passed away". I didn't see a single "slipped away", so I don't know where this data comes from. The most interesting one I saw was "ended his earthly existence".

Doesn't anyone say, "he/she is an ex-person" anymore?

I want my obit to say I am taking an eternal dirt nap

Not one "passed away"? That's the one I hear from people the most.

In Maine I usually hear "passed away." Unless they died of a disease. Then it's "lost their battle with "

Native Texan here: “entered eternal rest” is something I’ve only heard rarely. I certainly would never think it a “common” phrase.

It's regional, but also cultural. I am originally from Ohio, and people DIED there. I also heard "Passed away", but never heard anyone say "Went Home" unless it was in a Christian church. I live in the south now (SC) , and many people say "She passed". Or you can go full YouTube and say "she unalived" (silliest thing I've ever heard) instead of "killed". I still say "She died". Funeral homes love to use the euphemisms such as "He Passed on 6/3"

Apparently my late grandfather used to use the expression “gave up smoking”

As a Michigander, I have never heard someone say the dead were “called home” and don’t even get what that means. We always say passed away or just passed. But maybe that’s just where I’m from lol

South Louisiana, I typically hear something like "entered a new life" or "departed from the physical life" as a spiritual reference. Outside of obituaries, we definitely dont say "6 ft under" because you can't bury that far into the ground without hitting the water table. Thats where there are so many coping graves and mausoleums around if anyone was curious. When a major flood comes, you see coffins floating down the highway.

I usually hear "died" or "passed away" here

Im from TN and I've never heard "went home". Pretty much 100% of the time it was "passed" or "passed away"

I thought "passed away" was way more common

From Utah, and I have never seen nor heard anyone say, "slipped away". Maybe it's very common in the rural areas, but I don't hear it. I hear people say, "passed".

“Lost their battle” only works if they had an illness or cancer or something like that, ditto for “succumbed”. You wouldn’t say that about people who died of old age, for example. People here generally just say “passed away” or “is not longer with us” etc.

I suppose so for Maine? Although I only recall 'losing a battle' being specifically for cancer, but maybe we're a very cancerous state. I was always taught to never say anyone died, & I definitely only remember the obituaries using flowery language.

It's total BS.

In nevada “lost their battle” does make sense, because our fucking healthcare sucks, you will simply die, Californians need to stop coming to vegas

🤔

Here in France we have : died after a long illness ( usually cancer but never stated) Died Eating the daisies by their roots Broke his/ her pipe In English the obituary Passed away Passed on/ over Laid to eternal rest More common language Popped his/ her clogs Slipped away Bit the dust Pushing up the daisy

I prefer “done got kill’t” -Colorado For an example in a sentence: “George done got kill’t by old age yesteryear. Sorry for late obituary. We was busy bein high”

Musician: “joined the great gig in the sky” Sports player: “subbed in to the big game”

i dont even live in the USA soooooooo...

I’m more disappointed Massachusetts didn’t reference The Departed

Obituaries are their own special language. I'm from NYC, if you were to tell me your grandmother "entered her eternal rest", I would think you were joking or having some sort of breakdown. "Lost his battle" is very specific, and I'd assume the person had cancer or was fighting addiction or depression. If I was telling someone about a current situation, I'd say my abuela died. If I was trying to be more polite, usually about someone else's relative, I might say "passed away". If someone was asking about whether my abuela was still alive, I'd probably say "she's not with us anymore" if I didn't know the person well. You can be direct with people you're close with, if you worry that someone will feel awkward, you can use "passed away" or "she isn't with us anymore" as a common euphamism. If you want to be funny/irreverant, there's a ton of phrases you can use- carked it, keeled over, kicked the bucket, bought the farm (especially if they died young in a crash or in the military).

As a person who used to work with the obituaries in the newspaper in Montana, I don’t think “slipped away” is at all prevalent here.

Poeple say "went home" ??? "Passed away" is indeed very popular here (Indiana). I just assumed it was a general English thing.

No. Most people say, “He died,” or, “He passed.”

Yeah there's no possible way that's true about Mississippi, folks down here will do literally anything to avoid saying the d-word

Not in my experience— the new York times uses “died at \[age\]“ pretty consistently. I don’t read paid death notices, which is where this survey accumulated its data. I suspect that the survey is obsolete.

"Passed away" or "passed" is the safest option I've found. "Died" sounds harsh

Bear in mind, this not everyday language; this is from obituaries, which tend to be kind and flowery. The most euphemistic I've heard in everyday language is "passed away."

I don't think that many people read obituaries to be honest

Is this a real map or something you made up? It's funny either way. In Nevada, he lost his battle... Noticed lynching seems to have gone out of fashion in the Deep South. I think it would also depend a lot on the religion of the person and family.