"Passed" meaning "died"

[anona]

I have just read an attempt to finish/write a Roderick Alleyn book sketched out  by Ngaio Marsh. "Money in the Morgue", set in the early 1940s, was published earlier this month.

At the end of the book, Alleyn - who is very British - uses the term "passed" (not "passed away") when writing to a colleague at Scotland Yard about someone who has died. I think of "passed" as a comparatively new euphemism and even now used much more in America than here.

Does anyone agree, or have any idea about when the term became common?

(By the way, I could not recommend you buy this book. I checked that the author was reputable before I bought, but I should have looked at one of her own books.)

[mkenuk]

Growing up in England, 'passed away' was a pretty common euphemism for 'died' in the 1950s and 1960s. 'Passed on' was not unknown.

I don't like 'passed'; to me it seems fairly recent and always sounds a bit 'trendy' when I hear it on a film or TV programme.

I used to like Ngaio Marsh's novels when I was younger. I became a voracious reader in my early teens and I think I'd read just about every detective story in my local library by the time I was 16.
Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers were some of the other 'Queens of Crime' I can remember.

I've not read anything by Stella Duffy, who is credited with completing the Ngaio Marsh novel, although I think I have seen her name, perhaps in a film credits list.
 

[yelnats]

If someone has a copy of The ladies private detective agency handy, doesn't Mma. Ramotswe use the term "passed" regularly?

[mkenuk]

The series of books by Alexander McCall-Smith (the first one is actually called The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency ) is excellent and the BBC TV series was superb. I remember it because it was the first time I'd ever watched an HD television programme. I couldn't believe how clear everything was.
Unfortunately, they never made a follow-up series. Too expensive probably.

I can't remember if she said 'passed' for died. A good excuse to watch the series again.

[anona]

I can remember Mma Ramotswe using the term "late". She may have used "passed" as well, but "late" is the one I remember better, if so. I agree: the television series was good, too.

A good reminder: I'm fairly systematically (and as rapidly as I can) re-reading all the authors I've enjoyed in my life: Jane Austen, Donna Leon, Dorothy L Sayers, P.M. Hubbard, John le Carré, Ngaio Marsh, and just started on P.D. James.

Alexander McCall-Smith will be a good one to turn to next.