/nɒt ˈlɪft ə ˈfɪŋɡə(ɹ)/
English idiom, everyday. To be very lazy and avoid work.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use Not lift a finger
?
Everyday and usually a complaint about someone else: “he didn’t lift a finger to help”. It almost always comes with a negative (“never”, “didn’t”, “without lifting a finger”), and “even” adds bite: “she didn’t even lift a finger”.
Also said not raise a finger, not stir a finger, not move a finger
Not lift a finger
in real sentences
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Tom didn’t lift a finger to help.
Tatoeba, sentence by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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You haven’t lifted a finger.
Tatoeba, sentence by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Not lift a finger
come from?
Nobody has pinned down a first use. English Wiktionary compares it with Matthew 23:4 in the King James Bible, where the Pharisees load heavy burdens on others but “will not move them with one of their fingers”. That’s a likely ancestor of the image, but there’s no direct proof of the link.
Mistakes learners make with Not lift a finger
Learners drop the negative and say “he lifted a finger” to mean he helped. The phrase only really works with “not”, “never” or “without”.
Other English idioms like Not lift a finger
Spot a mistake in Not lift a finger
?
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