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Ray Dolby has passed on. Off-topic question for the native English speakers: what is the difference you see between passing away and passing on? It's the first

Ray Dolby has passed on. Off-topic question for the native English speakers: what is the difference you see between passing away and passing on? It's the first time I come across the latter. Sigh... I'll never grok phrasal verbs...

dasil003 13y ago
Interesting question. There may be some nuance I'm not aware of, but to my ears passing away and passing on are largely identical euphemisms for death. If I really were to stretch I'd say passing on sounds a bit more like something applied to a person who was actively engaged in life, whereas passing away sounds a bit more like what might be said of an elderly person who has already somewhat detached from the world even before death, but that's pretty tenuous.
jcampbell1 13y ago
They mean the same thing, but "passed on" implies a belief in an afterlife.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
cynwoody 13y ago
There is little difference between the two, as it relates to kicking the bucket†. However, using "pass on" may imply passing on to some sort of afterlife, as opposed to simply departing the world. The phrase "pass on" has more meanings. For instance, you can "pass on" an investment opportunity, meaning to decline to make the investment. Also, you can use it transitively, as in transferring something to somebody. †http://www.answers.com/topic/kick-the-bucket http://www.answers.com/topic/kick-the-bucket
- gmac 13y ago
  Yes, 'pass on' is especially tricky, as it depends on context and emphasis. If I say 'I'll PASS on that opportunity' it means I'll decline it; but if I say 'I'll pass ON that opportunity', it means I'll offer it to someone else.
mynameishere 13y ago
The same, except "pass on" can also refer to dessert.
- rdl 13y ago
  Maybe one day we can "pass on passing on", too.
mathieuh 13y ago
As a native English speaker, they are perfectly synonymous for me.
anigbrowl 13y ago
Americans in general dislike saying people have 'died,' which sounds too final. 'Passed on/away' is a sop to people who believe in the afterlife.
dctoedt 13y ago
> passed away / passed on ... native English speakers Native English speaker here. I've told my wife and kids that my obituary is to say simply that I died, not that I passed away, or passed on, or crossed over, or went to meet my Lord and Savior (a common formulation in the South), or anything like that. (My wife's response: "You won't be here; I'm going to do what I want.")
saraid216 13y ago
English is a language where redundancy is an understatement. Speaking as a fairly competent writer, it's effectively my role as a writer to make up yet more ways to say the same thing hoping for a centimeter more of clarity.
mpclark 13y ago
As a former newspaper sub editor, I can say there is no difference. Neither should EVER be used. The phrase they are looking for here is "has died". In news reporting it is wrong to beat about the bush, to try to soften the blow or to sugar coat things with meaningless rubbish like "passed away" or "joined the choir invisible". Harrumph.
- contingencies 13y ago
  On the meme of concision, I took it upon myself to conduct a whirlwhind survey of death glyphs. 死 < Chinese character for death. http://www.mikons.com/mikon/21531_200.gif http://www.mikons.com/mikon/21531_200.gif < Mayan character for death. http://hieroglyphs.net/0301/images/d/108.gif http://hieroglyphs.net/0301/images/d/108.gif < Apparently the most popular of at least three Egyptian renditions Interestingly from a semantic perspective, according to http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/dict4.htm http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/dict4.htm there exists an alternative rendering in Egyptian which consists of two perpendicularly contrasted pairs of parallel lines, explained as "deceased (true of voice)".

dasil003 13y ago

Interesting question. There may be some nuance I'm not aware of, but to my ears passing away and passing on are largely identical euphemisms for death. If I really were to stretch I'd say passing on sounds a bit more like something applied to a person who was actively engaged in life, whereas passing away sounds a bit more like what might be said of an elderly person who has already somewhat detached from the world even before death, but that's pretty tenuous.

jcampbell1 13y ago

They mean the same thing, but "passed on" implies a belief in an afterlife.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

cynwoody 13y ago

There is little difference between the two, as it relates to kicking the bucket†. However, using "pass on" may imply passing on to some sort of afterlife, as opposed to simply departing the world. The phrase "pass on" has more meanings. For instance, you can "pass on" an investment opportunity, meaning to decline to make the investment. Also, you can use it transitively, as in transferring something to somebody. †http://www.answers.com/topic/kick-the-bucket http://www.answers.com/topic/kick-the-bucket

gmac 13y ago
Yes, 'pass on' is especially tricky, as it depends on context and emphasis. If I say 'I'll PASS on that opportunity' it means I'll decline it; but if I say 'I'll pass ON that opportunity', it means I'll offer it to someone else.

mynameishere 13y ago

The same, except "pass on" can also refer to dessert.

rdl 13y ago
Maybe one day we can "pass on passing on", too.

mathieuh 13y ago

As a native English speaker, they are perfectly synonymous for me.

anigbrowl 13y ago

Americans in general dislike saying people have 'died,' which sounds too final. 'Passed on/away' is a sop to people who believe in the afterlife.

dctoedt 13y ago

> passed away / passed on ... native English speakers Native English speaker here. I've told my wife and kids that my obituary is to say simply that I died, not that I passed away, or passed on, or crossed over, or went to meet my Lord and Savior (a common formulation in the South), or anything like that. (My wife's response: "You won't be here; I'm going to do what I want.")

saraid216 13y ago

English is a language where redundancy is an understatement. Speaking as a fairly competent writer, it's effectively my role as a writer to make up yet more ways to say the same thing hoping for a centimeter more of clarity.

mpclark 13y ago

As a former newspaper sub editor, I can say there is no difference. Neither should EVER be used. The phrase they are looking for here is "has died". In news reporting it is wrong to beat about the bush, to try to soften the blow or to sugar coat things with meaningless rubbish like "passed away" or "joined the choir invisible". Harrumph.

contingencies 13y ago
On the meme of concision, I took it upon myself to conduct a whirlwhind survey of death glyphs. 死 < Chinese character for death. http://www.mikons.com/mikon/21531_200.gif http://www.mikons.com/mikon/21531_200.gif < Mayan character for death. http://hieroglyphs.net/0301/images/d/108.gif http://hieroglyphs.net/0301/images/d/108.gif < Apparently the most popular of at least three Egyptian renditions Interestingly from a semantic perspective, according to http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/dict4.htm http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/dict4.htm there exists an alternative rendering in Egyptian which consists of two perpendicularly contrasted pairs of parallel lines, explained as "deceased (true of voice)".