way out of a paper bag

Meaning: (slang,idiomatic,formulaic)Aminimallevelofcompetenceoreffectiveness, as used inphraseswhere one isunabletoperform.My boss is so clueless, he couldn't schedule his ownway out of a paper bag.Junior varsity couldn't play theirway out of a paper bagin comparison.1923,Asia, volume23, American Asiatic Association, page281:The old chap did not look as though he could push hisway out of a paper bag.1924, Harry Charles Witwer,Love and Learn, G. P. Putnam's sons, page260:Personally I don’t think this egg could punch hisway out of a paper bag. He’s only been workin’ in this trap two days2003November 6,Lynne Truss, “Introduction – The Seventh Sense”, inEats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, London:Profile Books Ltd,→ISBN,page 8:To be fair, many people who couldn’t punctuate theirway out of a paper bagare still interested in the way punctuation can alter the sense of a string of words. It is the basis of all “I’m sorry, I’ll read that again” jokes.2014, Allie Peter,Saved by the Fireman, page105:“You'd hate his cooking[,” he said.]“Most guys can't cook theirway out of a paper bag[,” Charlotte said.]

Examples:

EN: He couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag.
ES: Ves, se lo debo. Él no pudo luchar.
EN: But the night he fights his big fight, he won't be able to punch his way out of a paper bag.
ES: Pero la noche de su gran pelea no será capaz de ganarle a nadie.
EN: (mumbles) couldn't shoot his way out of a paper bag (mumbles) - Get back.
ES: No podía lograr nada con esa pistola, ¡míralo!
EN: So I think I'll always remember the... you know, trying to act - trying... to act my way out of a paper bag.
ES: sabes, intentando actuar, intentando... actuar a mi manera.
EN: You can't sing your way out of a paper bag.
ES: No podrías cantar ni para salvar la vida.
EN: He couldn't fuck his way out of a paper bag!
ES: ¿Pero ese puede tirarse a alguien?
EN: are very hard to disprove especially if you get one of those new interns but they couldn't diagnose their way out of a paper bag we do all the work they get all the glory in the big footstool
ES: Sí, está bien, buena elección lesiones en la espalda son muy difíciles de refutar, especialmente si obtienes uno de esos nuevos internos pero no pudieron diagnosticar su salida de Una bolsa de papel que hacemos todo el trabajo que reciben
EN: Yeah, it should be. You'd be surprised how many health professionals couldn't Heimlich their way out of a paper bag.
ES: Sí, te sorprendería saber cuántos médicos no saben la técnica Heimlich.
EN: that hack couldn't direct his way out of a paper bag. Altman?
ES: ¿Altman?
EN: ! You couldn't table-dance your way out of a paper bag!
ES: ¡Si no sabes ni salir ni de una bolsa de papel!
EN: As we all know, Ira can't bluff his way out of a paper bag.
ES: Como todos sabemos, lra no puede engañar.
EN: Well, looks like we got another crop of pathetic witches. You couldn't zap your way out of a paper bag. Prepare for inspection.
ES: Bueno parece que tenemos otro cultivo patéltico de brujas no pueden conjurar la manera de salir de una bolsa de papel preparense para inspeccion
EN: McTeer couldn't saw his way out of a paper bag.
ES: El es un habilidoso carpintero. McTeer no podría cortar una bolsa de papel.
EN: You couldn't hit your way out of a paper bag,
ES: Tú no podrías batear para salir de una bolsa de papel,
EN: Don't look like a poker man, to me. Couldn't bluff your way out of a paper bag with that face.
ES: - No pareces un jugador, tienes cara de embustero

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).