Feb 09, 2006

lock stock and barrel

This is an expression, which has been around for several hundred years. Do you know anything about guns? I understand that the "lock", "stock" and "barrel" are different parts of a gun; they were originally different parts of a musket. The wooden "stock" was that portion which you placed against your shoulder when you fired the gun. The "lock" ignited the gunpowder and the bullet came out of the "barrel". Together the "lock, stock and barrel" made up the entire gun. It is not surprising therefore that the idiom means "including everything; every part of something". Here are a few examples.

*Shyam is moving his company lock, stock, and barrel from Patna to Bangalore.

(from this webpage)

*Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program

infidel

1. An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam.

2. One who has no religious beliefs.

3. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle.

United States is the leader of Europe and the leading infidel in the world
-- an Afghanistan farmer (wow, his vocabulary is better than mine)

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
--Napoleon Bonaparte