can't punch one's way out of a paper bag

Be inept, as in Ask him to program the VCR? He can't punch his way out of a paper bag. This hyperbolic term for extreme ineptitude originally was an expression of contempt for a weak or cowardly boxer. [Slang; c. 1910]

RELATED CONTENT

What Do The A, C, And T Of The ACT Test Mean?Into the heat and happy languor of summer, a chilly reminder of grades and scores is smacking students. Right now, people who took the ACT national exam in June are learning their scores. This may explain why the teens around you seem more ecstatic, despondent, or confused than usual. You probably know how it works: kids take the ACT or the SAT, learn their scores, then send the results to schools that …

English Affixes From A To Z: A One-Stop List Of Suffixes, Prefixes, and Combining Forms In English, we love to make new words by adding all sorts of bits to the front and back of existing terms. These are called affixes, and they are added to the base or stem of a word. When attached to the end of word, the affix is called a suffix. And to the beginning? A prefix.

Nearby words

can't help, can't hit the broad side of a barn, can't hold a candle to, can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, can't make head or tail of, can't punch one's way out of a paper bag, can't see beyond the end of one's nose., can't see the forest for the trees, can't seem to, can't stand, can't wait

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.