如何表达“笨手笨脚”

今天我们要讲的三个习惯用语都是形容笨手笨脚的人。

1. butter-fingers

Butterfingers是由两个字组成的，一个是butter。Butter就是黄油，另一个字是：fingers。 Fingers就是手指。黄油手指是什么意思呢?

你想一想，要是你手上都是黄油，你会感到很油腻，很滑，要抓什么东西也抓不住。所以，美国人就把那些笨手笨脚，经常会拿不住东西，打破，或打坏东西的人称为butterfingers。在美国，你可能会听到人们说：

例句-1： Some Americans are all butterfingers the first time they try to pick up and use Asian chopsticks.

有些美国人在第一次用亚洲人用的筷子的时候，都是笨手笨脚的。

例句-2： Pete's a hard worker. But he has a tough time holding a restaurant job. He's a real butterfingers and keeps spilling dishes when he brings an order to the table.

Pete是一个工作很努力的人。但是他很难持续他在饭馆的工作。在上菜的时候，他经常会把菜洒出来，真是笨手笨脚。

2. all thumbs

Thumbs就是大拇指。你可以想象，要是一个人的两只手全是大拇指，那他还能干活吗?当然不行。

例句-3： Dick isn't very good using tools around the house. He's all thumbs: when he hammers a nail he's likely to end up hitting his finger instead. And you'd be shocked to hear the bad language he uses when that happens!

Dick在家里用工具干活是不太行的。他总是笨手笨脚，当他要敲一个钉子的时候，他往往会敲到他自己的手指上。把自己敲痛了，他就破口大骂，你听了真会吓一跳。

例句-4： Sheila won't let me help her clear the dishes after dinner any more after I dropped her favorite plate and broke it. Now she tells our friends I'm all thumbs.

上次我把Sheila心爱的盘子打破后，她就不再让我吃完晚饭后洗碗了。她现在告诉我们的朋友我是多么的笨手笨脚。

3. two left feet

Two left feet就是两只左脚。我们每个人都有一只右脚和一只左脚。要是一个人有两只左脚的话，那要走路，跑步和跳舞就很别扭了。下面这个例子就是一个人在说他学跳舞的情况。

例句-5： In high school I had a hard time learning all the popular dance steps. At first, you know, I felt like I had two left feet. But I kept trying and these days my wife tells me she even enjoys taking a turn around the dance floor with me.

念中学的时候，我学那些流行的舞步可真不容易。你知道吗，刚开始的时候，我觉得两只脚真别扭。但是，我不断练习，现在我太太告诉我她还挺高兴和我一起跳舞。

例句-6： Hey, what's the matter with you boots! I told you 'always start off on your left foot.' And watching you clowns stumble around, you've all got two left feet!

嗨，你们这些新兵是怎么回事呀! 我告诉你们“总是左脚起步。”看你们东歪西倒的，真象小丑一样，你们的两只脚怎么那么别扭!