light-fingered
Meaning: Tending to steal.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The shop fired a light-fingered cashier.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Nimble fingers are useful to a pickpocket. The sense is recorded from the 16th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Slovak: Mať dlhé prsty — literally: To have long fingers
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs.
- Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.
- Die Daumen drücken — To wish someone good luck (like crossing fingers).
More English idioms
- The last straw that broke the camel's back — The final small burden that causes a total collapse.
- To have a frog in your throat — To have difficulty speaking due to hoarseness.
- It's raining cats and dogs — It's raining extremely heavily.
- To have butterflies in your stomach — To feel nervous excitement.
- Bob's your uncle — And there you have it; simple as that.
- take the biscuit — to be the most outrageous or remarkable thing; to win or excel.
From our proverbs
- Blood is thicker than water — Family bonds are stronger than other relationships.
- Two heads are better than one — Collaboration and diverse perspectives lead to better solutions.
- No pain, no gain — You must work hard to achieve results.