Learn English – Idiom for someone who buys all the best gear to do something before they even have a basic proficiency

epithet-requestsidiom-requests

I'm looking for an idiom to describe someone who decides to take up a new hobby, then buys an excessive amount of gear before they've even started. Perhaps they believe they need this gear to master the hobby, or that having the gear will make them better at it.

For example: someone decides they're going to learn how to play guitar. They buy a top-shelf guitar, a half-stack amplifier, a graphic equalizer, effects pedals, direct boxes, and a gig bag full of gadgets. Eric Clapton might be jealous of their equipment, but they haven't even learned how to play one chord yet.

Another example might be someone who decides they're going to try to get in shape, so they go out and buy a multi-station gym, an expensive bicycle, a heart-rate tracker, top of the line athletic clothes, but they can't even walk a mile without fainting.

How do I put this insanity into words?

Best Answer

In British English there is a common colloquialism:

"All the gear, no idea"

It describes your requirements perfectly: novices who splash out on expensive equipment but who lack the aptitude to use it properly or even to perform satisfactorily in the subject endeavour.

Unfortunately, I can't find a reputable reference work to back up my claim but, as a native Brit and current UK resident, I can assure you that this phrase is well established and popularly understood.

However, I can provide some evidence that the phrase is in use by quoting this Telegraph newspaper article.

In it, the author (a Telegraph journalist) recounts his first experience on a racing yacht (emphasis mine).

Well out of my comfort zone, even my attire was a giveaway – brand-new thermals and squeaky-clean boat shoes. The phrase “all the gear, no idea” sprang to mind.

[...]

“Have you sailed before?” asked my skipper, Emily, as I clung to the guardrail wire.

“I lived on a narrowboat last summer,” I replied. “Does that count?”

“Not really,” she said with a smile.

The Telegraph is a well-regarded newspaper in the UK, so the phrases it publishes could certainly be considered acceptable, commonly-used English.


EDIT: Even the venerable BBC seems to use the phrase, as seen in a recent article about cycling (emphasis mine):

Yes, there are the oft-derided "middle-aged-men in Lycra" spending their disposable on flashy steeds instead of sports cars and motorbikes. Sneered at by the old guard for having "all the gear, no idea".


The urban dictionary gives an accurate (if poorly written) definition:

This is when you see people (mainly middle aged men) walking around an amateur golf range with all the equipment that has probably set them back a small fortune, however, they haven't even played before and [are] completely useless, yet they have still spent all that money.