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Tue 24 Feb, 2004 12:35 am
In English we say"killing two birds with one stone." The Chinese choose instead "yi shi er niao"(一石二鸟),two different languages,but the meaings are exactly the same.We may cite this example to see that idioms are come from the life experiences.But one idiom I can't understand, which is Buy a Farm, what does it mean? does it mean die,death?? why? Thank you.
Normally it's said as "bought the farm", and, yes, it means to die.
It comes from England. In 1657 Jack Prescott died right after purchasing a farm. He had a heart attack while signing the purchase agreement.
"Poor Jack", said the townspeople. "Well, at least he bought the farm before he died."
Over time, when people started dying, the expression "bought the farm" came into play.
Glad I could help.
Thanks for your help.But how ofen do people use this expression ?
Damn Gus, how would you know something like that?
max, The expression is used occasionally. There are many strange expressions to say that someone has died.
Have you heard--
Kicked the bucket.
Pushing up daisies.
Croaked.
Curtains.
Bite the dust.
Gus has such a romantic view of life. Take Gus every morning with a half teaspoon of salt (and ask him to explain it!).
War is 90% boredom and 10% terror for the combatants. During the days of "Hurry up and wait" soldiers talk about the past and make plans for the future. One of the frequent ambitious (after buy a bar/pub/saloon) was to buy a farm.
Unfortunately many of these soldiers were killed. Their "farms" were six feet long, four feet wide and six feet deep--the size of a standard grave.
Therefore to "buy the farm" was "to die in action".
another explanation I've heard--
during the early days of flight, crashes were much more common than they are today. Unfortunately, crashes frequently involved farms and destruction of property. Angry farmers eventually got fed up and began suing the estates of pilots who died crashing into their barns, fields, etc., hence the expression "bought the farm".
I've heard the last one Bite the dust before.it's too difficult for me to master these expressions.
max-yc- If you can't get a handle on the expressions, why use them?Dead is dead!
Yeah Phoenix, the movement of plain English is ongoing... I guess that max-yc wants to be an English linguist -- that might be a horrible odyssey for him/her.
The "farm" is a piece of real estate measuring 3' X 6' - remarkably similar in dimensions to a cemetary plot. That's the farm you buy when you die.
Personally, I am fond of "The dirt nap" you can't mistake that for anything else.
If you go down for the dirt nap, I don't think anyone will confuse that with falling asleep at a picnic :wink:
I always thought it was because mortgages usually carry insurance -- if you die before the debt is paid, you "buy the farm" that way rather than with money...
Roberta, I read your post and couldn't help but think of the Python parrot sketch
'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies!
'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig!
'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!
THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
He is no more...
Getting back to buying the proverbial farm, seems to me I've also heard "bought the ranch." Meaning the same. Can anyone confirm?
D'artagnan--
Out west they say--or they did 30 years ago--"bought the ranch, out in God's real country".
Makes sense, Noddy. Thanks!
D'artagnan--
Westerners, particularly the outdoors types, refer to most of the land west of the Mississippi (but stopping at the California border" as "God's Country".
Believe me, "God's Country" includes some of the bleakest prairie (granted with magnificent sky) that you've ever seen in all your born days.
Oh, I'm familiar with the God's Country idea (having lived in the West for a while now). As you say, it's all in the eye of the beholder...
"God's Country" was explained to me as "Only God would have it"
I like the term "worm food" me own self.
Quote:Re: Bought the farm
Posted by ESC on September 29, 1999 at 00:55:43:
In Reply to: Bought the farm posted by norm secrest on September 28, 1999 at 20:12:19:
: I understood the origin to have been barnstormers in: the US after WW1. (the book "The Right Stuff", I believe) When someone crashed in a farmer's fields he had to pay the damages to the crops, hence "bought the farm."
I was all ready to tell you that I always thought the phrase had its origins in a farmer, for example, dying and his family taking the insurance money and paying off the mortgage.
However, a couple of books I checked agree with you that the phrase has its origins in the military. But there's disagreement on how exactly the phrase came about.
In the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" there is a long passage on "bought the farm." Paraphrasing here, one idea was that when a soldier was killed in action, it was said he "bought the farm." That is, the soldier was at peace, on a heavenly version of the farm he had often daydreamed about buying when he got back home.
The other suggested origin was along the same lines. But the phrase "Well, he's bought his farm," was a wry comment on the dead soldier not getting a chance to realize his dream.
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/1/messages/2222.html
Quote:Bought the farm
Meaning: To die.
Example: Oscar's bungee jumping experience came to an abrupt stop when he bought the farm on his first try.
Origin: It comes from W.W.I. When a US soldier was killed in combat his family was given a "death benefit" that amounted to a enough money to buy a parcel of farm land in the mid west.
Thanks to Geoff Knowlton
Some might consider this just compensation to the surviving family. Personally I would prefer a minor wound with the lesser compensation of "renting the farm".
http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#BoughtTheFarm
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