Meaning
Make a mess of something through error or inept handling. Informal and mildly disparaging. Hames is normally plural in both the literal and idiomatic uses. Regional use: Ireland; Hiberno-English.
Origin
Hames are the two curved pieces fitted around a draught animal's collar to carry the traces. The Irish expression is commonly explained by the difficulty or consequences of fitting harness hames incorrectly. That connection is plausible and visually apt, but the available historical record does not prove the precise step from the harness noun to the idiom.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Make a complete hames of
- Make a hames out of
- Make a right hames of
Usage Examples
- I made a complete hames of the booking and sent everyone to different hotels.
- Do not let that rushed repair make a hames of the original stonework.