I guess it’s more of an American context. Someone “buying the farm” is a euphemism for them dying.
The explanation I’ve heard before is that it comes from the life experience of actual farmers. Someone getting started as a farm owner has to take out a very large loan to purchase a plot of land. If they have a family, they probably have a life insurance policy big enough to pay off that mortgage and provide for their family if they die young. So, if someone in that situation dies, their family gets enough money to pay off the mortgage. Through their death they “buy the farm.”
I think it may be a term originating from the WW1 or WW2 eras. There were a lot more young men purchasing farms back then, and with the casualties from the wars, there were a lot more of them “buying the farm.”
I’ve never heard of it nor could I find it in a lexicon of German sayings. What does it mean?
I guess it’s more of an American context. Someone “buying the farm” is a euphemism for them dying.
The explanation I’ve heard before is that it comes from the life experience of actual farmers. Someone getting started as a farm owner has to take out a very large loan to purchase a plot of land. If they have a family, they probably have a life insurance policy big enough to pay off that mortgage and provide for their family if they die young. So, if someone in that situation dies, their family gets enough money to pay off the mortgage. Through their death they “buy the farm.”
I think it may be a term originating from the WW1 or WW2 eras. There were a lot more young men purchasing farms back then, and with the casualties from the wars, there were a lot more of them “buying the farm.”