AP, July 13, 2023, “unalive”:
“Unalive” is a term used to refer to death by suicide or homicide. It can be used as an adjective or a verb and is part of a trend where social media users, particularly on platforms like TikTok, create new phrases to bypass content censorship algorithms that restrict discussions on explicit or violent topics.
Plutarch, Life of Cicero, written around AD 100; the Latin word for “they have lived” is apparently “vixerunt” (“third-person plural perfect active indicative of vīvō”):
In a historical context, when Roman citizens wanted to discreetly communicate that someone had passed away to avoid using direct words, they would say “they have lived,” as a way to signify death without explicitly stating it.
The article You Say "Unalive," He Says "Vixerunt": Everything Old Is New Again was initially published on Reason.com.
