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!