Euphemism For The Dead
The phrase had been in use for much of the 19th century to refer to the dead—the number of living people is less than the number who have died, so the dead are the majority in that sense. Phrases such as "gone to a better world", "gone before", and "joined the silent majority" served as euphemisms for "he died". In 1902, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan employed this sense of the phrase, saying in a speech that "great captains on both sides of our Civil War have long ago passed over to the silent majority, leaving the memory of their splendid courage."
Read more about this topic: Silent Majority
Famous quotes containing the words euphemism for, euphemism and/or dead:
““Women’s fashion” is a euphemism for fashion created by men for women.”
—Andrea Dworkin (b. 1946)
““Women’s fashion” is a euphemism for fashion created by men for women.”
—Andrea Dworkin (b. 1946)
“Every man who has lived for fifty years has buried a whole world or even two; he has grown used to its disappearance and accustomed to the new scenery of another act: but suddenly the names and faces of a time long dead appear more and more often on his way, calling up series of shades and pictures kept somewhere, “just in case” in the endless catacombs of the memory, making him smile or sigh, and sometimes almost weep.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)