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

Save This Word!

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]

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

cantor, cantorial, cantoris, Cantor set, Cantor's paradox, can't punch one's way out of a paper bag, cantrip, can't see beyond the end of one's nose., can't seem to, can't see the forest for the trees, can't stand

How to use can't punch one's way out of a paper bag in a sentence

Really, is it any wonder that fluoride should freak people out?
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Added to drinking water at concentrations of around one part per million, fluoride ions stick to dental plaque.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
For a while yoga and pilates classes were sought out at luxury gyms like Equinox.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
On Thursday, Garcetti ruled himself out of the race to succeed Boxer.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

In his view, a writer has only one duty: to be present in his books.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Practise gliding in the form of inflection, or slide, from one extreme of pitch to another.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
It is most peculiar, and when he plays that way, the most bewitching little expression comes over his face.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
He alludes to it as one of their evil customs and used by them to produce insensibility.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
"Capital, capital," his lordship would remark with great alacrity, when there was no other way of escape.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
In this way bundles of the plants are easily made, and in most cases these can be readily carried about.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin