It used to be that if someone said "Jeff got in a car accident," it usually meant that Jeff was dead or disabled for life.

Today, it simply means that Jeff is going to be 45 minutes late for work.

Since I lived in the "surely dead" era, I still react that way if someone mentions someone getting in a wreck. People must assume I'm upset over Jeff's surely totaled car (something that didn't always happen in the olden days).