2983: Ham-Fisted - Ham Legged? Feb 20, 2025

The adjective, ham-fisted, is fairly self-explanatory regarding clumsiness or a lack of delicacy, attested first around the turn of the 20th century (earlier if one includes ‘ham-handed’). However, the analogy to hams has not only been used for hands, as in the the Middle English phrase attested as hammen ifalden "with folded hams" meaning ‘kneeling’, and in Old English, ‘ham’ not only referred to the meat of a pig’s hind, but of the back of a person’s legs as well, which now does not have any commonly used word for it. Technically ‘ham’ is still a Modern English word with this sense, but the main way it has survived is as the source of ‘hamstring’.