all thumbs

English

Etymology

From the proverb "When he should get aught, each finger is a thumb." from John Heywood's Collection of 1546.

Adjective

all thumbs (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Clumsy; awkward; not dextrous.

   I am all thumbs when it comes to shuffling cards.

Related terms

• thumb
• mostly thumbs

Translations

clumsy (idiom)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (stupid hands, stupid feet) 笨手笨腳 (cmn), 笨手笨脚 (cmn) (bènshǒubènjiǎo)

• Finnish: peukalo keskellä kämmentä (fi)
• French: avoir deux mains gauches (fr) (have two left hands)
• German: zwei linke Hände haben (de) (have two left hands)
• Japanese: 不器用な (ja) (ぶきような, bukiyō-na), ぶざまな (ja) (buzama-na)

• Navajo: tʼóó bílaʼ dijool (hands are just round)
• Portuguese: ter dois pés esquerdos (pt) (have two left feet)
• Russian: руки как крюки (ru) (rúki kak krjúki/krjukí)  (hands like hooks), (euphemism) руки не из того места растут (ru) (rúki ne iz tovó mésta rastút)  (hands grow from the wrong spot), (vulgar) руки из жопы растут (ru) (rúki iz žópy rastút)  (hands grow from the arse)
• Spanish: torpe (es)
• Swedish: ha tummen mitt i handen (sv) (have the thumb in the middle of the hand)