on the fingers of one hand
1
6.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
contados con los dedos de una mano
- "You could count them on the fingers of one hand."
- count on the fingers of one hand
Examples
-
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've submitted my reviews before all three bottles had been consumed, and never have I done so before popping the caps on at least two.
Blog text (11) -
In the three years she'd been delivering babies for a living, Sarah could count on the fingers of one hand the times that had truly been an emergency.
Fiction book (1999) -
But I was wrong: the number of men and women who have argued that Robert Carter III and the Deed of Gift have a significant place in American history can be counted, literally, on the fingers of one hand.
Academic text (2001) -
You can probably count on the fingers of one hand (with fingers left over) the number of kids that took up smoking because of this poem.
Blog text (20) -
You can count them on the fingers of one hand, am I right?
-
You can count the number of Black writers, producers, directors, and executives on the fingers of one hand.
Antonyms
How Many
Surface Forms
Morphology
on + the + finger + of + one + hand
The meaning 'a very small, easily countable number' follows directly from the literal image of counting items 'on the fingers of one hand'—one hand has only a few fingers, so the phrase signals a small number. This concrete counting metaphor is cross-linguistically common and compositionally built from the known constituents, so a B1 learner who knows the words can readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
On the fingers of one hand gives a clear picture: you can count things on the fingers of one hand, so there are only a few. That's why the phrase means 'very few' or 'easily counted'.