My grandparents told it differently. To them, it was a dark colloquialism from the world wars. Infantry would often talk to each other about how they were look

My grandparents told it differently. To them, it was a dark colloquialism from the world wars. Infantry would often talk to each other about how they were looking forward to "buying a farm" once the war was over and they went home to their families. When the soldiers died in the trenches, as they often did, it was said that they had "bought the farm" as a euphemism. Usually it was better than saying how they actually died.