/ˈstare kon le ˈmani in ˈmano/ lit. ‘to stay with your hands in your hands’
Italian idiom, everyday. To be very lazy and avoid work.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Stare con le mani in mano
?
Everyday Italian, used for someone sitting idle while there’s work to do. It turns up most in the negative or as a reproach: “non startene con le mani in mano!”, “te ne stai tutto il giorno con le mani in mano”. “Restare” works too, especially for not wanting to stand by and do nothing.
Also said restare con le mani in mano, starsene con le mani in mano
Stare con le mani in mano
in real sentences
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Non ho intenzione di restare con le mani in mano.
I’m not going to just sit around doing nothing.
Tatoeba, sentence by dnnywld, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Non vorrai stare lì con le mani in mano.
You’re not going to just stand there twiddling your thumbs.
Tatoeba, sentence by bailujia, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Stare con le mani in mano
come from?
The picture is hands folded one in the other, resting in your lap instead of working. English Wiktionary glosses “con le mani in mano” as idle or lazy, sitting on one’s hands. We found no date or first use.
Mistakes learners make with Stare con le mani in mano
Adding articles or plurals to the second “mano”. It’s “con le mani in mano”, never “con le mani nelle mani”.
Other Italian idioms like Stare con le mani in mano
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