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cack-handed

[ kak-han-did ]

adjective

, Chiefly British Informal.
  1. clumsy; lacking skill with the hands.


cack-handed

/ ˌkækˈhændɪd /

adjective

  1. left-handed
  2. clumsy
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of cack-handed1

First recorded in 1850–55; origin uncertain; perhaps from Old Norse keikr “bent backwards”; akin to Danish keite “left-handed”; perhaps from English dialect cack, keck “awkward” (of unknown origin). An obsolete noun sense “excrement” is found in Old English (in cac-hūs “latrine” ); the obsolete verb sense ( mid-15th century ) appears in Middle English cakken “to void excrement,” from Latin cacāre; akin to Greek kakkân “to void excrement,” Middle Irish cacc “dung,” and perhaps to Greek kakós “bad”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cack-handed1

from dialect cack excrement, from the fact that clumsy people usually make a mess; via Middle Low German or Middle Dutch from Latin cacāre to defecate

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