A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP

Someone who behaves like a bull in a china shop rushes into a situation without stopping to think and is often insensitive to other people’s feelings.

 Examples:

 “On one level, I had behaved like a bull in a china shop. With little knowledge of the process, I had threatened existing policies and interest groups.”

 “I’m not looking for a ‘bull in a china shop’ kind of flatmate, I don’t want you to be always running around, throwing things around.”

 “Graves had gone about the business of recollecting his wartime experience with a bewildering disregard for accuracy and with all the delicacy of a ‘bull in a china shop.’”


 This phrase dates from the mid-nineteenth century [1].


 [1] “bull” in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press, 2005. 

 Photo credit: B4bees (Creative Commons)