A clumsy person may be known as a bull in a china shop or a bull in a china closet. The former came into use first, in the early 1800s, but bull in china closet is more evocative. Plus, according to the MythBusters, a bull in a china shop is surprisingly nimble. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Bull in a China Shop”
We were talking earlier about bull in a china shop, and the fact is that there are a lot of similar expressions in other languages, quite a few in Spanish, like como un elefante en una cacharrería, which is like an elephant in a pottery store.
They also have in Spanish like an octopus in a hardware store, which I love.
That sounds like my four-year-old.
They are all hands.
I swear.
I only count two, but I think there are eight.
That’s great.
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