Euphemistically speaking.

When I say this, please know that I don't mean to have a judgmental attitude. I'm willing to be enlightened.

I don't really get euphemisms. Why not call something what it is, rather than dancing around the subject, even when everyone knows what you mean anyway?

The one that I've been thinking about the most lately is "passed away." I think for some people it's a force of habit. They've heard it all their life, so it's what naturally comes out of their mouth. In that instance, they're maybe not intentionally trying to use a euphemism, it's just a part of their normal language. But other people can't seem to bring themselves to feel okay about saying, "My grandmother died." Other than the fact that, yes, that's a sad thing, and no one really wants their grandmother to cease to exist, of course. But it is what it is. Your grandmother, the dear woman that she was, lived her life, and now she's not here anymore. It's a process called death. I don't understand the motivation to call it anything else.

In my brain, using euphemisms is essentially avoiding the issue. Or sugar-coating something. This could be an indication of how literal I tend to be. Or perhaps this is just a reflection of my preference for raw authenticity, even in all of its ugliness, but I don't like either one of those things, skirting around what you really mean or trying to make it sound better than it is. Tell me what I need to know. Be honest. Don't change things to make them more pleasing. Or less displeasing.

I do realize there may be some things I don't understand about a person's motivation to use euphemisms. I'm not trying to condemn anyone. But I do know that they're not my style. So even if I come to an understanding and acceptance of why someone else uses them, I don't expect myself to go around telling people that my grandfather passed away when I was eight years old. My grandfather died. It was sad. And it took me a long time to deal with. But I think it was far better for me to confront it, name and all, than to try to make it seem not as bad as it was, which is what would have been had I not called it what it was.