What it means
Someone who stomps into a delicate situation and ruins it with clumsy, loud, or tactless behaviour. They mean well sometimes, but they’re all elbows and opinions, breaking stuff that needed a softer touch. Works for literal awkwardness and for social blundering, like blurting secrets or picking fights at a calm dinner.
Usage examples
"We asked Dave to have a quiet word with the neighbours, and he marched in, slagged off their garden, like a bull in a china shop."
"He waded into the family argument like a bull in a china shop and managed to upset everyone within a minute."
"Careful unpacking the glasses, do not go at it like a bull in a china shop or we will have shards everywhere."
Where it comes from
Picture a bull let loose among shelves stacked with delicate china: every clumsy turn smashes something. The phrase paints anyone who blunders heavy-handedly through a delicate situation, all force and no finesse, leaving breakages and bruised feelings in their wake.
Other ways to say it
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