Euphemisms: Going Down, Falling Over, Dumped It, Had a Get Off

Why do motorcycle riders use so many euphemisms when talking about crashing? Seems like they never crash...they just fail to stay upright in some fashion or another.

Now, I have literally fallen over once. On my first motorcycle (Honda VLX Deluxe), a couple weeks in, at a stop sign. My front tire wasn't straight when I hit my front brake, and over to the right side I went. Fortunately, my cruiser had engine guards, so no harm done to me or my bike.

I've actually crashed on my bikes over the years twice since then. Unless you count the time I ran over a fellow rider that had crashed in front of me, but I managed to stay upright. Maybe 2.5 times would be more accurate, lol.

I didn't just "go down" or "dump it" or "have a get off" or "fall"....I crashed.

In my experience, personal and from observing others, a rider is at great risk in the first year that they start riding AND at even greater risk in the 3rd year. Exact time varies somewhat depending on how many miles they actually ride, but you get the idea.

When you are a newb, you are at greater risk. Once you think you actually know what you are doing (but before you actually do)...then you are at an even your greatest risk. The risk never goes away of course, but sometimes we help it out more than others.

Along the same lines, there are so many Euphemisms used for how a rider crashed. Let me decode them for ya:

Throttle Stuck: They pinned it to win it and all they got was a trip in the ambulance (if it really had stuck, clutch and kill switch anyone?)
Cold Tires: Going too fast around a curve...or improper braking technique
Sand/dirt/gravel: Not paying proper attention, not scanning far enough ahead, going faster than they can see
Brake Checked: Following too closely
Rider ahead missed a shift: Following too closely

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point. It's never the rider's fault that something bad happened...