can't punch one's way out of a paper bag

Be inept, as in Ask him to program the VCR? He can't punch his way out of a paper bag. This hyperbolic term for extreme ineptitude originally was an expression of contempt for a weak or cowardly boxer. [Slang; c. 1910]

See also: bag, of, out, paper, punch, way

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Jozefa	YO-ze-faw (Hungarian)	Hungarian, Slovene
Harshal	-	Indian, Marathi, Gujarati
Ella (2)	EL-ə (English), EL-lah (Finnish)	English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Dubhghlas	-	Scottish
Aurea	-	Late Roman
Raimondo	rie-MON-do	Italian