# מצוץ מהאצבע



## yotg

Hello!
Lately I've been wondering about the expression "מצוץ מהאצבע" and I realized that I don't understand the metaphor. Does anyone know where this idiom came from? Does it have any English equivalents other than the vulgar "pulled out of my ***"?

Thanks in advance.


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## scriptum

The metaphor seems to be based on the idea of a writer who has nothing much to write about and who is sucking his thumb for inspiration. The expression is probably a calque from Russian.


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## .Lola.

Scriptum is probably right (about the origin)- we have the same extpression in Czech as well.

The meaning is exactly the same.


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## CrazyArcher

I'm pretty sure it's a calque from Russian as well


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## amikama

According to Ruvik Rosenthal's Slang Dictionary, מצץ מן האצבע comes from Yiddish: אויסגעזוגן פֿון פֿינגער


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## yotg

thank you all; can you think of any English equivalents?


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## scriptum

A cock-and-bull story.


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## babylonanka

One thing that crossed my mind for this is to take or make something out of thin air. Let's see what others think.


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## yotg

Once again- thank you all.


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