Cheap, typically Korean-manufactured "starter guitars" based on the iconic Stratocaster
archetype. Startocasters tend to be of low build quality and manufactured of
inferior parts. Some of them do make
halfway decent project guitars, though.
Person 1: "Did you hear that Johnny got a Strat? I wish I got that lucky with my first guitar"
Person 2: "It's a Strat in name only-I bet it's just some Korean Startocaster"
"Yeah, this Squier may sound rough now, but you
just wait until I've
replaced the stock tuning machines with Sperzels, the saddles with Graph Techs, and the pickups with Fender 54s."