Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 13:16:35 -0500

From: Ron Butters RonButters[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: movie anachronisms



Thanks for the list from AMISTAD. Last night I watched a movie that was

supposed to be taking place in 1938-44, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, in which a dying

young Canadian says about another solider, "He bought it yesterday" (meaning

'he got killed yesterday'). That didn't strike me as 1940s slang, either (I

assumed it came from the Viet Nam War phrase, HE BOUGHT THE FARM). But I got

out my trusty Random House DAS and found out that "He bought it" dates back

to WWI, and was still current in WWII. Hooray for Lighter and Sheidlower!