two left hands

Calque of French avoir deux mains gauches.

• "I've never been good at sewing; I guess I've got two left hands."
• "There are awkward grownup persons, having, as the French say, two left hands, whom no labour will ever make dexterous carvers;"
• "[Orestes] Brownson is one of those characters. He has two left hands, and was never known to do anything right; whatever he touches he is sure to despoil and disfigure."
• ""Oh Max, it must be true what father says, and I've got two left hands instead of one; what a scolding I'm in for!""
• "So, when the factory issued a requisition for ten workers, the commandant picked the worst candidates--sick people like me, and those schlemiels with two left hands and two right feet, who he knew couldn't get the job done."
• "Ambidexterity means equal skill with both hands, as contrasted with the term “ambilevous” meaning equally unskilled with both hands (or described as having “two left hands”)."