Question: What does "break heads" mean?
"There is no parliamentary majority for any Brexit deal, and no way out of the impasse that won’t
break promises—and possibly heads."

Source link: economist.com/britain/2018/12/22/the-elite-that-failed

Question:
1. What does "break heads" mean in the above sentence?

2. Can we use this phrase "break one's head" to express its literal meaning of "cracking somebody's head open"?

Thanks in advance.

Question

Question: What does "break heads" mean?
"There is no parliamentary majority for any Brexit deal, and no way out of the impasse that won’t
break promises—and possibly heads."

Source link: economist.com/britain/2018/12/22/the-elite-that-failed

Question:
1. What does "break heads" mean in the above sentence?

2. Can we use this phrase "break one's head" to express its literal meaning of "cracking somebody's head open"?

Thanks in advance.

Answer

It literally means to break ones head but they are exaggerating and it is used to express that people will be affected negatively.  Another popular phrase is 'heads will roll' which refers to cutting off someones head.  It's very similar in that no one is actually having their heads cut off but bad things are going to happen to people.