Long live awkwardness?

[JACEK1]

Hello all forum members!

Suppose that you want to help your better half make cheese cake. You are about to put one of metal mixers into the socket of the into the device when all of a sudden oops it slips out of your hand and falls to the kitchen floor.

I would like to complain to her about my awkwardness.

What is the English for such reaction?

Long live awkwardness!

What do you think?

Thank you.

 

[GoesStation]

It's comprehensible but not very natural. An American might say I'm such a klutz! "Klutz" is a Yiddish word for "clumsy person" that has entered American English.

 

[JACEK1]

Could I say "I am such a failure"?

 

[GoesStation]

Could I say "I am such a failure"?

You could, yes. The "klutz" expression is very natural American English for your situation.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Hello all forum members![/STRIKE] Unnecessary.

Suppose that you want to help your better half make [STRIKE]cheese cake[/STRIKE] a cheesecake. You are about to put one of metal mixers into the socket of the into the device (the underlined part doesn't make sense. There is, at least, a word missing) when all of a sudden, oops, it slips out of your hand and falls onto the kitchen floor.

I would like to complain [STRIKE]to her[/STRIKE] about my awkwardness.

What is the English for such a reaction?

Long live awkwardness!

What do you think?

[STRIKE]Thank you.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. You can thank us after we help you by clicking on the "Thank" button.

See above.

Note

 

[Roman55]

I would use the word clumsy.

How clumsy of me. I'm so clumsy. That was clumsy...etc.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Could I say "I am such a failure"?

'Failure' is much too strong a word, generally.

Perhaps a long history of small mistakes in the kitchen, coupled with a loving understanding of your many successes in other areas, would make a joking statement such as, 'I guess I'm just a failure in the kitchen!' natural enough.

 

[Rover_KE]

Right—followed by 'I'd better keep out of it and leave all the kitchen stuff to you, dear'.

 

[coolfool]

If I was the guy, I'd probably choose to say something like:

1. Sorry dear, I'm acting like an elephant.
2. Sorry honey, I behave like a bull in a china shop.
3. ...
...

 

[Rover_KE]

coolfool, please read this extract from the forum's Posting Guidelines:

You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly in your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice provide the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Could I say "I am such a failure"?

It's not natural. Yes, "klutz" is good. You also could try:

- I'm such a butter-fingers!
- I'm all thumbs today!
- What a boob!
- Oops!
- Whoops!

I used to have a girlfriend who liked to say "Oops! Bad gravity!"

My wife loves your "Long live awkwardness" but agrees that there's nothing common about it.

In the American movie "Annie Hall," Annie spends the first half of the movie saying a lot self-depricating things. You might pick up some ideas there.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If I was the guy, I'd probably choose to say something like:

1. Sorry, dear, I'm acting like an elephant. That's not natural.
2. Sorry​, honey, I​'m behaving like a bull in a china shop. That's a little better, but "behave" and "behaving" aren't natural there and the "bull in a china shop" expression doesn't quite fit this situation.
3. ...
...

I hope that helps!

 

[emsr2d2]

Out of curiosity, why did everyone assume that the person being described in post 1 was a man? I can see no indication of the person's sex at all.

 

[Roman55]

I suppose it could be a lesbian couple, but as the better half in question is referred to as her it is not unreasonable to assume that the speaker is male.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the 21st century, just because the partner is referred to as "her", I don't think it's necessary to assume that the speaker is male (in the UK, at least).

 

[coolfool]

They do help. Much obliged.

Not so sure if I may say under the circumstances:

Oops! I've blundered in the kitchen.
Whoops! It's clumsy of me.
Forgive me, sweet, I'm making a hash of the cake.
What a boob! I've bungled everything here.

 

[Barb_D]

All of those are too much for simply dropping the mixer.

Oops! -- That's enough.
Oops! How clumsy of me. -- That's also fine. (Oops or Whoops as you prefer.)

I'd probably say something like "Well, that was graceful! Let me get these washed up." We tend to use sarcasm a lot in those situations.

 

[Skrej]

The following would also work in this situation.

I'm all thumbs (today).

Looks like I've got two left (or right) hands/thumbs (today).

Butterfingers! (bonus points for the cooking pun

).

I might also joking say something like "First time out with a new pair of hands", or "I'm new to mixing".

Finally, I could pretend I did it on purpose and say "Eh, I wanted to let the dog/cat lick the beaters."