Lock, stock and barrel

This is one of my favorite phrases, and I am not a gun person. I do, however, love rhyme and the feel of the phrase. Lock, Stock, and Barrel is a merism used predominantly in the United Kingdom and North America meaning 'all', 'total', 'everything'. The effective portions of a gun are the lock (used to hold ready the sparking mechanism); the stock (the portion held), and the barrel (the aiming guide and conveyor for the explosive-driven ball). Collectively they are the weapon, therefore, everything. The term was first recorded in the letters of Sir Walter Scott in 1817, in the line "Like the High-landman's gun, she wants stock, lock, and barrel, to put her into repair". It is, however, thought that this term evolved into a popular saying some years before in England.