classic butterfinger
- noun
- /ˈklæsɪk ˈbʌtərˌfɪŋɡər/
- Offensive
:
manazas (informal, ofensivo)
- He fumbled the keys again, proving he's the classic butterfinger of the family.
Examples
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My brother is a classic butterfinger who always drops his phone.
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After spilling coffee on the floor, Mark was teased as the office's classic butterfinger.
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You can always count on Julia to drop the bouquet—she's a real classic butterfinger.
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He's such a classic butterfinger!
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Last week, he dropped the plates for the third time, earning him the title of the office's classic butterfinger.
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Every holiday dinner, we have to be careful around Lucas; he's the classic butterfinger who knocks over everything.
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Whenever we go out, you can expect Sarah to be the classic butterfinger—her drink always ends up spilled.
Synonyms
2
9.9
A person who is often clumsy and makes mistakes
1
8.1
A person who often drops things, especially in sports
1
3.4
A person who moves awkwardly and often drops or breaks things
A clumsy person who often makes silly mistakes
How Clumsy
Surface Forms
Morphology
classic + butterfinger
The core item 'butterfinger' is a lexicalized epithet whose imagery (butter + finger suggesting slippery hands) can partially hint at clumsiness, while 'classic' simply signals a typical example. Because the exact conventionalized meaning ('a clumsy person who drops things') is idiomatic and not fully predictable from the parts, a B1 learner might guess the general idea but would not reliably derive the precise meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Classic butterfinger comes from the older nickname butterfinger, built from butter and finger: imagine your fingers are covered in butter so things slip out of your hands. So calling someone a classic butterfinger means 'a person who is always clumsy and drops things'.