Idiom
buy it
Meaning
To believe any particular assertion or idea; to support it.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He told a strange story, but I did not buy it.”
“She says she is sick, but I do not buy it.”
“Do you really buy it when he makes those excuses?”
“The salesperson claimed the car was in perfect condition, but I did not buy it.”
“My roommate says he forgot to wash the dishes, but I don't buy it because he has been playing video games all afternoon.”
“The manager thinks a longer lunch break will improve our focus, and the whole team seems to buy it.”
“If you try to tell the teacher that your dog ate your homework, she definitely won't buy it.”
“Although the politician offered a polished explanation for the scandal, the public simply did not buy it.”
Examples
simple
“He told a strange story, but I did not buy it.”
“She says she is sick, but I do not buy it.”
“Do you really buy it when he makes those excuses?”
contextual
“The salesperson claimed the car was in perfect condition, but I did not buy it.”
“My roommate says he forgot to wash the dishes, but I don't buy it because he has been playing video games all afternoon.”
“The manager thinks a longer lunch break will improve our focus, and the whole team seems to buy it.”
“If you try to tell the teacher that your dog ate your homework, she definitely won't buy it.”
complex
“Although the politician offered a polished explanation for the scandal, the public simply did not buy it.”
Origin
The idiom is recorded as early as the 1820s in the sense of dying, which likely predates the variant expression buy the farm. The latter is thought to be an extension of the former. In its sense of accepting a premise or believing a story, the phrase is considered an elliptical allusion to a customer accepting a sales pitch.
Key words
Related idioms
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