Use of the word late to mean dead
I want to write that X is the brother of 4 dead people A, B, C and D and the brother of one person E, who is alive and kicking...
Should my reference be:
Brother of E and the Late A, B, C and D...
or should it be,
Brother of E and the late A, the late B, the late C...
Top answer
" If you want to reference four people like this, it would have to be something like the following: "John Smith is the brother of Bill, Bob, and Jeff Smith, and Jane Smith Evans, all of whom are deceased. "
- " If you want to reference four people like this, it would have to be something like the following: "John Smith is the brother of Bill, Bob, and Jeff Smith, and Jane Smith Evans, all of whom are deceased.
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The phrase "the late ____ " is used only with one person, for example, "John Smith is the brother of the late Bill Smith." If you want to reference four people like this, it would have to be something like the following:
"John Smith is the brother of Bill, Bob, and Jeff Smith, and Jane Smith Evans, all of whom are deceased. His brother Sam Smith is alive and well."
0hat beeis alive and kicking
This is colloquial and not serious. It's not really appropriate in serious writing or speaking. Alive and well or just the word alive would be more appropriate.
0The phrase "the late ____" is not used with more than one person. If John died, you'd say something like:
John Smith passed away yesterday. He was the brother of Bill, Bob, and Jeff Smith, and Jane Smith Evans, all of whom are deceased. He is survived by his brother Steve Smith.
0
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