What is meant by the phrase "bought the farm"?

Question: What is meant by the phrase "bought the farm"?

Answer: It comes from a 1950s-era Air Force term meaning "to crash" or "to be killed in action," and refers to the desire of many wartime pilots to stop flying, return home, buy a farm, and live peaceably ever after. When they died as a result of a collision or were shot down, their buddies would shake their heads and mutter, "Well, I guess he bought the farm."