Very informal and vulgar slang.
To have complete power over someone:-
They've got us by the short and curlies. We have no choice but to agree.
Seems to have originally meant 'by the short hairs of the neck' but now almost exclusively of the pubic hair.
To have complete power over someone:-
They've got us by the short and curlies. We have no choice but to agree.
Seems to have originally meant 'by the short hairs of the neck' but now almost exclusively of the pubic hair.