ha tummen mitt i handen

Swedish

Etymology

ha (“have”) +‎ tummen (“one's thumb”) +‎ mitt (“middle”) +‎ i (“in”) +‎ handen (“one's hand”), literally "have one's thumb in the middle of one's hand."

Verb

ha tummen mitt i handen (present har tummen mitt i handen, preterite hade tummen mitt i handen, supine haft tummen mitt i handen, imperative ha tummen mitt i handen)

1. (idiomatic) to lack practical skills, to be all thumbs

   Han hade tummen mitt i handen och klarade knappt att sätta ihop IKEA-möbler

   He was all thumbs and hardly even managed to assemble IKEA furniture

References

• tumme in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• tumme in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tumme in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)