Lock stock and barrel

Posted by Lewis on November 28, 2003

In Reply to: "Heads and tails" = in every aspect? posted by pdianek on November 28, 2003

: : As you know, we recently had a discussion of the meaning of "flip side," at which point the coin-related expression "heads or/and tails" came up. Well, here's the expression again, only this time with a very different meaning: "These people were already building Stratocaster type guitars that were heads and tails better than anything Fender was doing" (from link below). The meaning, I suspect, is "in every way/aspect/detail/sense/etc." Has anyone seen this expression before?
: : Anders

: Perhaps the writer unconsciously warped the expression "head and shoulders"?

: Head and shoulders: (a) By force; violently; as, to drag one, head and shoulders. "They bring in every figure of speech, head and shoulders." --Felton. (b) By the height of the head and shoulders; hence, by a great degree or space; by far; much; as, he is head and shoulders above them.

Should have been 'head, neck and shoulders above'?

Guitars have a head-stock where the strings are wound around the tuning pegs, a neck - on which the fingerboard/fretboard is placed and shoulders, where the neck meets the body of the guitar. I think I may have heard somebody once call the strap button (from which a guitar is suspended when played standing up) a 'tail' but 'tail-piece' is I think an accepted term for the string suspender when it is attached to the guitar at the point of that button, as it is on some semi-acoustic f-hole guitars (but not stratocasters/telecasters or other solid-body guitars).

So it may be possible that the writer meant from one end to the other 'head to tail'. Not common, but conceivably accurate.

I hope that helps.

• Lock stock and barrel Anders 29/November/03