To Buy the Farm




Context
#1 – Two friends talking




Victoria:
Did you hear the news?

Brandon:
No, what happened?

Victoria:
Do you know that older man who lives down the street from us?

Brandon:
Oh, yes. I do.

Victoria:
Well, he bought
the farm
yesterday.

Brandon:
Really?
But he was only 87 and in good shape.

Victoria:
I
know! And I’ve heard he would go skydiving twice a week.

Brandon:
So
he bought
it

while skydiving? .

Victoria:
No, he was fine after skydiving yesterday. He came home, ate dinner,
and then went to bed. It happened in his sleep.

Listen how to pronounce the idiom now

Context
#2 – Talking about a movie


Sal: That
movie was so violent! It’s like everyone bought
the farm

at the end.

Patty: Well,
it was a war movie.

Sal: Yeah,
I guess so.

Patty:
It really shouldn’t have surprised anyone when most of the characters
bought
it
.
That’s just the way it goes.

Sal:
Well, it’s depressing. Why don’t we go see a comedy next time?

Patty: Sound
good to me.

Meaning: “To
buy the farm

or “to
buy it

means to die or be killed. It’s usually used in the past tense
(bought
the farm
)
and it is sometimes used without “farm” (bought
it
).
In Context 1, the older man dies in his sleep with no visible cause.
In Context 2, many of the people in the war movie are killed in
combat, so it is a violent film.

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