Buying something lock stock and barrel.
It means buying everything, like if you were to buy a
computer lock stock and barrel, it would mean you are buying all the parts of
it. It originates from a 1700's musket. You have the barrel, the stock was the
wooden butt of the musket, and the lock would be the metal piece where the
workings of the musket are. So it would be the whole of the musket. (Refer to
diagram)
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Someone is a flash in the pan.
It means that the person you are describing is flashy and
showy but they really don’t do anything. This also originates from a musket.
When firing a musket the hammer comes down and hits the frizzen. The hammer
would have a flint in it so it would make a spark when it hit the frizzen. The
spark would then go into the pan were there was a small charge of gunpowder
which would go off. From the pan, there is a touchhole that goes into the
barrel where the main charge ignites. If there is just a flash in the pan it
means there is a bright spark and a puff of smoke, but if the charge in the main
barrel doesn’t ignite, it doesn’t do anything. (Refer to diagram)
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