"you gave away the farm"

Posted by Steve E on July 11, 2005

In Reply to: "you gave away the farm" posted by ESC on July 09, 2005

: :
: : question: Is there a phrase that says "you gave away the farm" and if so, what does it mean?

: It's vaguely familiar. I am guessing that it means: you gave away everything.

: (Another farm phrase -- bought the farm. Previous discussion:

: In the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins there is a long passage on "bought the farm." Paraphrasing here, one idea was that when a soldier was killed in action, it was said he "bought the farm." That is, the soldier was at peace, on a heavenly version of the farm he had often daydreamed about buying when he got back home.

: The other suggested origin was along the same lines. But the phrase "Well, he's bought his farm," was a wry comment on the dead soldier not getting a chance to realize his dream.)

I have heard the expression (in the US) about 'not giving away the store'.