Crossword Dictionary
Ham Fisted
ham fisted - doing things in an awkward or unskilled way when using the hands or dealing with people
synonyms
awkward, butterfingered, cack-handed [British], clumsy, graceless, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed, left-handed, maladroit, unhandy
The word ham denotes the part of the hindquarters of a pig or similar animal between the hock and the hip, hence, in cookery, the meat of this part, especially when salted or smoked.
The comparison between large hands and hams (aided by the alliteration ham–hand) gave rise to the adjectives ham-fisted and ham-handed, which mean:
– having large hands;
– hence also: heavy-handed, awkward, bungling.
These adjectives existed before the First World War. For instance, in Old Schenectady (New York – circa 1904), George Simon Roberts (born 1860) wrote:
Sir William had in his employ a large, ham-fisted Irishman named McCarthy, who was noted as the “champeen†bare-knuckle fighter of western New York.