Euphemisms are an easy way to skirt a difficult and emotional issue like death.
Even doctors and nurses can be guilty of speaking in medical jargon to avoid discussing the end of the patients' lives. Paramedic Sandy Ward bangs out e-mails to headquarters as her partner Morgan Seamont gulps tomato juice and chomps Wheat Thins. After years of emergency rescue, these two tend to slip in and out of paramedic-speak. Suicides are sometimes 55. The lingo allows them to communicate economically.