I thought another source for this term is the habit of air force
pilots talking about "buying the farm" when they retired. Of course,
the death rate being quite high for pilots even in peacetime, this was
highly unlikely. Royal Navy pilots during WW 2 had a casualty rate of
98%. USAF pilots in peacetime have a casualty rate of over 50%, IIRC.
See http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-buy1.htm for a discussion.
The RAF equivalent was "gone for a Burton", or "the poor beggar bought
it over Blighty." Me old oppo just went west, completely up the wazoo.
cats arse: a sausage roll.
Right, I'm off to do me dhobi.
Roger
On Jan 14, 2008 1:33 AM, judy prince <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Might be of further interest, Mark:
>
> In 1956 from HEFLIN author _USAF Dictionary_, p 198:
>
> " 'Buy a farm' - to crash . . . This expression is in allusion to the notion
> that the owner of a farm takes advantage of a crash on his land to collect
> heavy damages."
>
> In 1955, _AS_ XXX, p 116:
>
> "'Buy the farm, buy a plot' Crash fatally. (Jet pilots say that when a jet
> crashes on a farm the farmer usually sues the government for damages done to
> his farm by the crash, and the amount demanded is always more than enough to
> pay off the mortgage and then buy the farm outright. Since this type of
> crash {i.e., in a jet fighter} is nearly always fatal to the pilot, the
> pilot pays for the farm with his life.)"'
>
> Judy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 7:07 PM
> Subject: untranslateable phrases
>
>
>
> > Or, j'en ai marre, j'en ai ras-le-bol (or just ras).
> >
> > But it was a serious question about the history of what I assume are
> > Americanisms. Really. Robin?
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
> >>That should be "je n'en peut plus supporter," natch. Way rusty in French.
> >>
> >>
> >>>Well, meaningless if translated directly, though there are ways to say
> >>>them in the argot of other languages.
> >>>
> >>>I'm curious about the origins of:
> >>>
> >>>I've had it (je l'ai tenue?), in both its meanings--I can't put up with
> >>>any more of this (je ne peut plus supporter ceci), and I've bought the
> >>>farm (j'ai achete la ferme)
> >>>
> >>>I've been had (j'ai ete eu?)
> >>>
> >>>Mark
> >>
> >
>
--
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"She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
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