I am not tipsy and the title got me too. I was running a magic event in my game shop and let out an audible gasp causing several players to ask what was wrong.
I had the same panic. That's not even the title of the article ('Voyager's Roxann Dawson Had A Chance To Direct Star Trek But Dropped It For Another Show') so, unless the website changed it, you have to wonder what OP was doing writing it that way.
OP isn’t American. It’s not a universal euphemism.
Even having lived in the US at one point it’s not an automatic connection.
Canadians (at least in my experience) use the expression ‘passed away’ if at all to avoid saying ‘died.’
But also being Canadian, I’ve given my regrets elsewhere on this thread. And I’m sorry for the unintended shock to any and all who don’t share my dialect.
No worries. You regularly comment and post on a variety of topics, always with a steady and non-antagonistic viewpoint. This situation is very, "it's not you, it's me." I have relatives from the southern U.S., and they shorten "passed away" to just "passed." It's just what I'm used to hearing.
I’ve lived everywhere but Atlantic Canada actually. I also work with colleagues from coast to coast.
One hears it, (as in, ‘she moved into town once her husband had passed on’) but it’s not the kind of automatic euphemism that would make it the first interpretation. ‘She passed on that opportunity’ is really common.