Why when someone dies do we say,“He bought the farm”?

During the Second World War, airmen introduced the term “he bought the farm” after a pilot was shot down. The expression caught on with all the armed services and meant that if you gave your life for your country, your impoverished family would receive insurance money for your death, which would help pay off the mortgage on the family farm. Death for your country meant you were “buying the farm” for your parents.

Posted on Categories General