Why is CTB a euphemism

[Emerita]

I saw a post asking the meaning of CTB now Im curious of how it came to be, is it metaphorical or literal?

There's no bus to death. There was that man who stabbed, beheaded, and cannibalized someone on a bus, but that's not related to suicide. Buses crash, resulting in death, but again, that's not suicide. Getting hit by a bus can be a suicidal act, but is that really "catching" the bus? I mean, if your arms are out, it might look like an attempt to catch it, but it feels more like a bowling ball knocking over a pin.

Catching the bus could represent the bridge between life and death. The bus might symbolize the act of suicide, while waiting at the bus stop signifies the anticipation of that act. Getting onto the bus is when the attempt begins, with the destination being the next stop aka death. The bus ride is the act of dying if you don't make it to the stop you've essentially survived your attempt.

Also who's driving it? Do I drive it?

Is it a community thing, a unique way of communicating a desire to end it using an unconventional phrase because the outside world doesn't understand suicide in the first place?

It's interesting to see how we adopt dialects in online spaces. I know it was used in alt.suicide.holiday. But who is the OG bus catcher, was there a situation or person who claimed the saying or did it just kind of find its way as being the euphemism for suicide? Does someone know the reason/ history of it?

 

[ketopia]

I found a definition posted on Urban Dictionary as far back as 2005! it seems to just be a less-common, but still well established slang term.

Sometimes I read it in my head as "c-shit the bed" or "c-kick the bucket" lol

 

[semio]

To me I think its just to represent moving to a different part of your "life" (lol) Like meeting Charon and being ferried to your death in a new aged way. I have always been partial to "buying the farm" as a phrase myself and it seems to be lesser used now days.

 

[Parasitism]

I found a definition posted on Urban Dictionary as far back as 2005! it seems to just be a less-common, but still well established slang term.

Sometimes I read it in my head as "c-shit the bed" or "c-kick the bucket" lol

'Shit the bed' is my favorite term for when I've done something dumb.

 

[grandeur.egg]

I'm not sure where it came from. I imagine like one other said, its like catching a ride to another part of your life.
I also use CTB to mean cross the bridge.

 

[sickofwaiting]

your post really made me think about this for the first time, and i'm starting to feel like i might be against using "CTB."

we're talking about death. dying. ending a life. it's not something that should be softened or danced around. i think if we used the word "die" more often, people might pause and reflect more seriously. it's easier to give advice casually or talk about killing ourselves like it's nothing when we use slang. in a way, it feels desensitizing. and on here, we don't even have a real reason to censor ourselves.

death is real. it's serious. it's permanent. we should treat it (and speak of it) with the weight + respect it deserves.

 

[Emerita]

your post really made me think about this for the first time, and i'm starting to feel like i might be against using "CTB."

we're talking about death. dying. ending a life. it's not something that should be softened or danced around. i think if we used the word "die" more often, people might pause and reflect more seriously. it's easier to give advice casually or talk about killing ourselves like it's nothing when we use slang. in a way, it feels desensitizing. and on here, we don't even have a real reason to censor ourselves.

death is real. it's serious. it's permanent. we should treat it (and speak of it) with the weight + respect it deserves.

It seems odd that this place uses euphemisms for suicide. Why do we need to soften the language when advocating for free speech? Even in this space, we still discuss it in euphemisms, highlighting the hush-hush nature surrounding the topic of suicide, even in a place meant for open conversation. You don't see "kms" here, but that would be a more literal expression of the situation, still an acronym. I wonder about the linguistics of this, specifically the sociolinguistics.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I think it came about as kind of a "code" so that people could talk about suicide in a more clandestine kind of way without actually using the word suicide itself. Obviously, any usefulness of something like that would be short lived. It just kind of stuck. Actually, another member in a posting turned me on to a different set of words the other day for the CTB acronym, which I actually like much better than "Catch The Bus". They said that they always thought CTB meant Cease To Be. I like it.

 

[Carrot]

If you are driving, what does catching it mean? Maybe it's not a perfect euphemism.

I don't know the origin or history. At first ai thought it's a weird term, now it grew on me, it's easier to write than to write "commiting suicide".

 

[badkarma4618]

this whole time i thought it stood for cross the bridge
like the rainbow bridge...to the other side?
but ur right bus makes no sense

 

[lucycelestia]

your post really made me think about this for the first time, and i'm starting to feel like i might be against using "CTB."

we're talking about death. dying. ending a life. it's not something that should be softened or danced around. i think if we used the word "die" more often, people might pause and reflect more seriously. it's easier to give advice casually or talk about killing ourselves like it's nothing when we use slang. in a way, it feels desensitizing. and on here, we don't even have a real reason to censor ourselves.

death is real. it's serious. it's permanent. we should treat it (and speak of it) with the weight + respect it deserves.

i think calling it death would be more comforting, in a way. like it really emphasises that your life, good and suffering alike, will end. for someone whose life is hell, they'd get more comfort out of understanding its end.