Writer's Block: Idiomatic Confusion

[geniusinmaine]

For me, it's "buy the farm" as a euphemism for death, since dead people are in no condition to buy anything.

Comments

[terrible_t]

I think it refers to the military. When a soldier/farmboy would die, the government would send a check to the family, and it was usually enough to pay for their farm.

[geniusinmaine]

Thanks for the info. I don't come from a military background, so I didn't know that.

[idrea_renaris]

This expression started around WWI.