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convert ten thumbs into eight fingers

English translation: to practice until he becomes competent

12:19 Jul 14, 2012
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: convert ten thumbs into eight fingers
nor were the piano lessons which his mother gave him disagreeable, for she had a way of luring him from tune to tune, never making him practise one which did not give him pleasure, so that he remained eager to convert ten thumbs into eight fingers.
Michael Kislov
Russian Federation
Local time: 18:53
Selected answer:to practice until he becomes competent
Explanation:
He plays badly - he is "all thumbs", i.e. 10 thumbs instead of 2 thumbs and 8 fingers.

"If you're "all thumbs," you are clumsy or awkward - imagine trying to do anything with five thumbs instead of four fingers and one thumb!

This idiom usually refers to fine motor tasks."
Selected response from:

Martin Riordan
Brazil
Local time: 12:53
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +5to practice until he becomes competent
Martin Riordan
4go from awkward to graceful
Arabic & More


  

Answers


33 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
to practice until he becomes competent


Explanation:
He plays badly - he is "all thumbs", i.e. 10 thumbs instead of 2 thumbs and 8 fingers.

"If you're "all thumbs," you are clumsy or awkward - imagine trying to do anything with five thumbs instead of four fingers and one thumb!

This idiom usually refers to fine motor tasks."


    Reference: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_the_idiom_%...
Martin Riordan
Brazil
Local time: 12:53
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 275

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Arabic & More: Looks like we posted at almost the same time.
3 mins
  -> Almost! Identical ideas. Thanks, Amel...
agree  Veronika McLaren
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Veronika!
agree  B D Finch
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, BD!
agree  Bernhard Sulzer: yes, keep the 2 thumbs.:) / Indeed!
6 hrs
  -> Thanks, Bernhard! Maybe the really good players use them as fingers too! :-)
agree  Phong Le
4 days
  -> Thanks, Phong Le!
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35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
go from awkward to graceful


Explanation:
It is common in English to say that someone who is awkward or inept is "all thumbs." It seems that the person in your text is not very good at playing the piano, but he is eager to become better at it due to his mother's easy-going attitude about the lessons. "Eager to convert ten thumbs into eight fingers" just means that he is eager to lose the awkwardness and become a skilled piano player. He says "eight fingers" because the normal thing is to have two thumbs and eight fingers.

Arabic & More
Jordan
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 52
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