Be all thumbs means to be clumsy with your hands, so that things keep slipping out of them. The image is easy to picture: try threading a needle when every finger is a thumb. People say it about manual tasks, such as repairs, sewing or wrapping presents, not about being awkward in conversation.
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be all thumbs (with + noun; when it comes to + noun/-ing); UK: be all fingers and thumbs
- I'm all thumbs when it comes to fixing bikes, so I take mine to a shop.
- Can you wrap the present? I'm all thumbs with paper and tape.
- My hands were freezing, and I was all thumbs trying to find my keys.
What changed
First versionSorry about your vase, my hands grow from the wrong place.
RevisionSorry about your vase, I'm all thumbs.
My hands grow from the wrong place sounds like a word-for-word translation; in English it's strange and will be taken literally. Clumsiness with your hands is described through fingers: I'm all thumbs, as if every finger were a thumb.
Be all thumbs is the American version. In Britain, people say it at greater length: I'm all fingers and thumbs today. Green fingers, on the other hand, is a talent: everything grows in the garden of someone with green fingers: My mum has green fingers.
Your turn
Could you thread this needle for me? My hands are shaking and I'm ___ today.
Show the answer
all thumbs — You can't thread a needle and your hands are shaking, so they won't do what you want: all thumbs. All ears means “listening carefully”; people say it when they're ready to listen.
Write about a task you're bad at doing with your hands. Name the task and what usually goes wrong.
I'm all thumbs when I put up shelves, and they always end up crooked.
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