Euphemistically Speaking: The American Way of "Kicking the Bucket"

We may laugh, giggle or cringe when hearing that someone "kicked the bucket," "is pushing up daisies," "bit the dust," or "gave up the ghost."

Dr. Dickinson has taught courses on death and dying since 1975

Each is a way to say someone died; each is a euphemism. Euphemisms, in simpler language, are ways to soften, to avoid harsher wording. There can even be humorous ways to refer to the finality of death and funerals. This site lists dozens of dozens of death-related euphemisms, including my personal favorites: "buy a pine condo,""go to a necktie party," and "he's past his sell-by date."

U.S. Continues Cremation Trend

For the first time, more Americans are choosing to cremate their loved ones, rather than bury them.

In 2016, the U.S. cremation rate climbed to 50.5 percent, exceeding ground burials for the first time.  Japan, Napal and Thailand continue to the lead world with cremation rates that exceed 95 percent. Japan's rate was 99.97 percent in 2014.

Dickinson has taught at CofC for more than 30 years

College of Charleston sociology professor and "death, dying and bereavement" expert Dr. George Dickinson disclosed America's new cremation figure while speaking on Nov. 6 to Patrick Harwood's CofC class, "Beyond the Grave: What Old Cemeteries Tell and Teach the Living."

A big reason for the shift, he said, is the cost comparison. "With earth burials, the average cost is $10,000," Dickinson said. "Six thousand for the funeral home and casket, those are the most expensive parts, then embalming, the hearse (to carry the person to the cemetery), the cemetery plot and burial costs too."

In addition, many cemeteries require the casket be placed in a vault, so that's another big expense, Dickinson said.

By comparison, cremations costs are in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, he said.

The all-time-high cremation figure was reported in July by the National Funeral Directors Association.

This Wikipedia entry includes a table showing 2014 U.S. state-by-state cremation figures. Nevada tops the list with a cremation rate of 75.9 percent. Mississippi has America's lowest figure at 19.7 percent. At 38.1 percent, South Carolina came in at 38th on the list (which includes the District of Columbia). Western states have the highest cremation rates (more than 70 percent) while Southern states report the lowest rates (fewer than 30 percent).

The Cremation Association of North America predicts that by 2020, America's cremation rate will be 54.3 percent.

Dickinson called his talk to the students "The American Way of Death." He spoke of how Americans  tend to avoid death conversations and often use euphemisms instead of saying someone died. "Passed away, went to asleep," are a couple examples he shared.

"The all-American way to die is in your sleep," Dickinson said, "in your bed, in your home, having had a good day before."

But today's reality is that such as ideal way to "pass" doesn't happen for most Americans. "Eighty percent now die in an institutional setting, away from the familiar arena of home," he said. The two major causes of death in the U.S. are heart disease followed by cancer, he said, adding, "But both have dropped significantly in the last 15 years."

Dickinson told his young audience that there could even be cures to heart disease and cancer by the time they become senior citizens. "The longer we can wait, more breakthroughs are coming," he said.

Click here to see a previous post on this blog about Dr. George Dickinson and his views on life, death, and end of life issues.  He is the co-author of "Understanding Death, Dying and Bereavement," a book regarded as a seminal study of these issues.

Dr. George Dickinson can be contacted at the College of Charleston by phone at 843.953.8186 or email at dickinsong@cofc.edu.

Sanctity of Life or Quality of Life- Where Do You Stand?

At the polls last fall, Colorado voters approved Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS), joining five other states and Washington D.C. in legalizing what some call "active" euthanasia.

According to Wikipedia, PAS is often confused with euthanasia (sometimes referred to as "mercy killing") in that euthanasia involves a physician administering the means of death, usually a lethal drug. In PAS, the patient self-administers the means of death.

Dr. George Dickinson (left) and Patrick Harwood
Photo by Bridgette Johnson

Euthanasia is not legal in the United States, nor in most countries. "Passive" euthanasia, taking a loved one off life support systems, is legal in all 50 American states, according to College of Charleston sociology professor Dr. George Dickinson

An international expert on the study of death, dying and other "end of life" issues, Dickinson says in coming years he can envision more states approving Physician Assisted Suicide.

"It comes down to sanctity of life versus quality of life," Dickinson told CofC students on April 3. Speaking to Patrick Harwood's First Year Experience course "Beyond the Grave: What Old Cemeteries Tell and Teaching the Living," Dickinson said sanctity of life supporters oppose any type of assisted death because to them, "God has given me this body, who am I to destroy it?"

Those who support the quality of life position say those suffering incurable, painful diseases and illnesses should have a "get me out of this" alternative, as Dickinson put it.

Along with Colorado other states that in recent years approved PAS are California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont.  Last fall, Minnesota lawmakers dropped a bill to introduce PAS in their state after impassioned hearings on both sides of the controversial issue.  In 2012, Massachusetts voters rejected a "death with dignity" proposal by 51-to-49 percent.

Is PAS a blue state, red state issue? Perhaps, Dickinson said. "Different cultures deal with death differently," he said. "African-Americans, for example, tend toward a sanctity of life philosophy."

Dickinson said he became interested in studying end of life issues in the 1970s after asking a third year medical student at the University of Minnesota, "How's your death and dying course? I nearly fell out of my chair when he said he hasn't taken one."

A 1976 inquiry to America's then 113 medical schools by Dickinson found that only seven offered a death and dying course. Thanks to the advocacy by Dickinson and others, today's 136 U.S. medical schools offer at least something on death and dying.

Among other noteworthy topics discussed by Dickinson in the presentation he titled "The American Way of Death":

• 80 percent of Americans now die in institutional settings, away from their homes
• Today, 45 percent of people who die in the Charleston area are cremated, up from 10 percent in the 1970s
• By 2025, Dickinson expects that cremation figure to rise to 50 percent
• The average earth burial today in the U.S. costs around $10,000 when embalming, caskets, burial vaults and gravesite costs are added
• Cremations, on average, cost $1,200-$1,500
• Dickinson said many in Europe, where cremation is much more popular, "think we are crazy" in the U.S. for our expensive and elaborate funeral and burial rituals
• The British, Dickinson said, are much more community oriented than Americans in terms of having an extensive network of free standing hospices, where people with terminal illnesses can go to die
• Americans have many euphemisms for death that are used to avoid its harsh realities
• In 1900, the major causes of death (etiology) in America were pneumonia and tuberculosis and that today it is heart disease (followed fairly closely by cancer, then chronic lower respiratory diseases and accidents due to unintentional injuries) and strokes 
• Death Cafes are a trend in America- these are places and events where people can come together and talk about death and dying in a relaxed atmosphere
• Dickinson recently has expanded his research to include veterinarians who euthanize dogs, cats and horses
• From vets and others, he has collected stories about how dogs and cats seem to, literally, be able to smell death before it happens. He told a story about a Rhode Island nursing home where, if a cat got on a patient's bed, that person would die in six hours

Beyond Death and Dying with Dr. George Dickinson

I was pleased on March 28 to have Dr. George Dickinson return to my "Beyond the Grave" class to share his expertise on "death, dying and bereavement," the unique topic for which he is an internationally recognized research expert and author.

In thanks for his second visit this school year, I presented Dr. Dickinson with a signed copy of my 2014 book, "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry." Thanks to Hannah Dunnaway for taking this photograph.

Last semester when he visited this class, I posted a detailed recap of what I thought were some of the professor's key points.

Here's the link to that post.

Thank you so much, George, for another great presentation. I hope you'll come back next school year!

Talk Takeaways: Dr. George Dickinson Goes "Beyond the Grave" with FYE Students

"My family didn't all die in a plane crash," quipped esteemed College of Charleston sociology professor Dr. George Dickinson as he opened his talk to my "Beyond the Grave" First Year Experience course students on Nov. 2 in our Robert Scott Small classroom.

No, it wasn't a personal tragedy that launched the Texas native decades ago on his career academic expertise: death, dying and bereavement, which is part of the name of the book he co-authored in 1993 that has since been updated and expanded a pretty amazing 14 times!