I sometimes have problems understanding what certain phrases mean. Not a old phrase such as “Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead”. Recently, the phrase
The late [person's name] … etc.
has been bothering me. I understand what it means, and I know why people use this phrase, but where did this come from? When did it all start? Let’s see who can fill me in.
Well it’s fairly safe to say that they’ll never be on time for anything else again. :p
I think it’s pretty obvious that it’s a euphemism for people who want to say “The DEAD [person's name]…”
Crazy-ass English language.
The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest example of “late” meaning recently deceased is dated 1490. “Late” as an adjective meaning “recent but not continuing to the present” is similar, but the OED’s first citation for it is from approx. 1548, so this sense may not have given rise to the “recently deceased” one. The OED says this latter sense of “late” apparently developed from an adverbial use, defined as “Not long since (but not now); recently (but no longer).” Its first quotation for “late” as an adverb in this sense is “John the monke late cardynal of Rome” (1474).