Obituaries Secret Code

Obituaries have long employed a secret code, a shorthand to mask causes of death that survivors found embarrassing. When HIV/AIDS began claiming lives in the 1980s, young men were said to have simply succumbed to "pneumonia." There is also a code for gay men that says they were "Unmarried" or "Confirmed bachelor." The codes “died at home” or “died suddenly” or simply “passed away” come out when there’s a drug overdose or a suicide.