Why when someone dies do we say, “He bought the farm?” During the Second World War, airmen introduced the term “he bought the farm” after a pilot was shot down. The expression caught on with all the armed services and meant that if you gave your life for your country, your impoverished family would receive insurance money for your death, which would help pay off the mortgage on the family farm. Death for your country meant you were “buying the farm” for your parents.
Why is a glaring error called a “snafu”? During the Second World War, massive military operations were so huge they were usually fouled up by their sheer weight and size. The frustrated servicemen called them SNAFUs, an acronym for “Situation Normal: All Fouled Up.” Some say that “fouled up” was a polite adaptation for family use, but regardless, the expression snafu lived on, and now, as it did then, means a glaring error.
Why is a restricted limit called a “deadline”? A deadline is an absolute limit, usually a time limit, and was popularized by the newspaper business, in which getting stories written and printed on time is of ultimate importance. But the expression comes from American Civil War prisoners, who were kept within crude makeshift boundaries, often just a line scratched in the dirt or an easily breached rail fence. They were told, “If you cross this line, you are dead,” and soon the guards and prisoners simply called it what it was: a deadline.
Why do paratroopers shout “Geronimo” when they jump from a plane? During the Second World War, Native American paratroopers began the custom of shouting the name of the great Indian chief 77
www.ilmiomistero.com - Sharing our Loneliness...