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Reader question: Please explain “heads I win, tails you lose” in this sentence – Our investigation suggests a disconnect between compensation and bank performance that resulted in a “heads I win, tails you lose” bonus system. My comments: In a word, unfair. “Heads I win, tails you lose” is a variation from “Heads I win, tails you win”, which is what one usually says before tossing up a coin. Before people toss up a coin to decide a winner, each side is asked what he wants, heads or tails. Heads refer to the front of a coin, tails the backside. The front of the coin is referred to as heads because many British coins bear the head of Her Majesty the Queen. Heads, always plural. Plural? Why? I don’t know. English, after all, is a language that is often hard for foreigners to, well, quite fittingly, make head or tails of (here, you see, head is single). Anyways, before you toss up the coin you ask your partner what he/she wants, head or tails. If they say they want tails. That’s when you say: Okay, heads I win, tails you win. What if you then say “heads I win, tails you lose”? You’re cheating, of course, or perhaps you’re just joking to make sure your partner is attentive. Anyways, in terms banking, when people say it’s a “heads I win, tails you lose” situation with the major banks, they mean to point out that today’s banking is a win-win situation for the banks – and lose-lose for the public. That is, if banks make money, shareholders keep the profit with executives garnering big bonuses. If they fail to make money, and especially if they fail big, the government often steps in to bail the banks out with tax payer money. | 
