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Phrases for bungling

Posted by Sauerkraut on September 23, 2000

In Reply to: Phrases for bungling posted by Bob on September 22, 2000

: : : : : Does anyone have any particularly interesting phrases (short or long) that convey the idea of bungling a situation or responsibility? Thanks.

: : : : : Patty

: : : : dropped the ball, let down the side (British), took an oafer (baseball slang, a batter who came up 4 times, got no hits, so went 0 for 4, "oafer 4") screwed the pooch (test pilots who crashed and died), stepped in in, stepped on a rake, stepped on his dick, came a cropper, blew it, fumbled, day late and a dollar short.

: : : From that seat of learning - London SWI - cocked up, fouled up, buggered up, messed up and screwed up - all classified under 'ups'.

: : And from WWII, snafu, fubb, and fubar. Situation normal, all (fouled) up; fouled up beyond belief; fouled up beyond all reason.

: There's also "getting tangled up in his own underwear," and "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."

Since I'm a target shooter (with guns) - there's always the phrase about shooting one's self in the foot - ie. - a good idea that wasn't carried to fruition - the aim was wrong.

As an aside - the shooting one's self in the foot was also applied to draft dodgers who would rather shoot their foot than be classified as suitable for the draft.

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