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Introduction

Here's an expression about clumsiness.

Transcript

Feifei
Hello, and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Feifei and I'm here with Phil. How are you, Phil?

Phil
I would say I'm very well, but I'm a bit frustrated, actually.

Feifei
Oh, no. What's happened?

Phil
My phone case fell apart – I'm trying to fix it, but I just can't put it back together.

Feifei
Oh, you are so ham-fisted, Phil!

Phil
Ham-fisted. Well, that's the expression that we're looking at in this programme. The adjective 'ham-fisted', which is all about being clumsy. Now, it might help if we start by looking at what a fist and a ham literally are.

Feifei
Yes, your fist is when you close your hand and put your fingers together in a ball. It's what boxers use to hit each other. A ham is a big round bit of pork, usually cooked. For example, I often use it to make a sandwich. But, in the expression 'ham-fisted', what has ham got to do with someone's fist?

Phil
OK, think about it visually. Imagine instead of hands, you just had two big round bits of meat, and then trying to do something. It probably wouldn't work very well. It often has this idea about having strength, but no precision or skill, as if you are hitting things with a big piece of meat. Things get broken, rather than fixed if you're ham-fisted.

Feifei
Yes, so this expression is all about being clumsy. Are you ham-fisted, Phil?

Phil
Me? Oh definitely! When it comes to doing DIY around the house, if I get a hammer, I'm probably going to break something rather than fix it. When I'm cooking, the number of times I've cut myself when I'm cutting vegetables, or I drop a plate and it smashes. I think I'm really ham-fisted.

Feifei
You certainly sound like you are very ham-fisted! Here are some more examples of the expression 'ham-fisted'.

Examples
So, I was drawing yesterday with a pencil, and I broke it 'cos I'm really ham-fisted, and then I borrowed another one from my friend, but I broke that one as well!

I wanted to learn the piano, but I'm too ham-fisted. I just kept hitting the wrong keys.

Beth brought me a coffee to my desk this morning, but I knocked it on the floor. I'm so ham-fisted.

Phil
Feifei, in the examples we've heard, ham-fisted was used to talk about literal, physical clumsiness, but are there other ways of using it?

Feifei
Yes, it can also be used in a metaphorical way. For example, you can talk about a ham-fisted approach to solving a problem. If an approach is ham-fisted, then it is done without much thought, with no subtlety or nuance.

Phil
So, a ham-fisted approach to solving a disagreement at work might leave everyone unhappy. It keeps this idea of using force rather than skill.

Feifei
Yes, now to recap, we've learnt the expression 'ham-fisted' which is used to describe a clumsy way to do things.

Phil
That's all from us. We'll be back next time with another useful English phrase. See you then.

Feifei
Bye-bye.

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