pot calling the kettle black

WOTD - 8 April 2007    

English

Etymology

There are two interpretations of this phrase, though other sources give only the first interpretation.

In the first interpretation, it refers to the fact that both cast-iron pot's and kettle's bottoms turn equally black when hung over a fire, and thus the pot is accusing the kettle of a fault it shares.

In the second, subtler interpretation, the pot is sooty (being placed on a fire), while the kettle is clean and shiny (being placed on coals only), and hence when the pot accuses the kettle of being black, it is the pot’s own sooty reflection that it sees: the pot accuses the kettle of a fault that only the pot has.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈpɒt ˌkɔːliŋ ðə ˌkɛtəl ˌblæk/
• (US) IPA: /ˈpɑːt ˌkɑːliŋ ðə ˌkɛtəl ˌblæk/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

pot calling the kettle black

1. (idiomatic) A situation in which somebody comments on or accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares.

   I think it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black when she says he is obsessive.

Translations

situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault shared by the accuser

Bosnian: Rugala se ruga pa joj bila druga (bs) Dutch: de pot verwijt de ketel dat hij zwart ziet Finnish: Pata kattilaa soimaa French: la pelle se moque du fourgon (fr) "the shovel laughs at the poker" l'hôpital qui se moque de la charité (fr) "the hospital laughing at charity" la paille et la poutre (fr) "the mote and the beam"; see Matthieu 7:3-5 German: Ein Esel schimpft den anderen Langohr. (de) Greek: είπε ο γάιδαρος τον πετεινό κεφάλα (el) (the donkey called the rooster bullheaded) Hungarian: bagoly mondja verébnek, hogy nagyfejű (hu) Japanese: 目糞鼻糞を笑う (ja) "The sleep in one's eyes laughs at the snot in one's nose" Portuguese: atirar pedra em teto de vidro (to throw stones in roof of glass) Russian: в чужом глазу соринку заметно, в своем - бревна не видать proverb (in other's eye one can notice a mote, in one's own - can't see a log; see Matthew 7:3-5), Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя б - молчала proverb (other's cow could say 'moo', but yours should better be silent)

Serbian: ругала се шерпа лонцу широка му уста (sr) Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can: Swedish: kasta sten i glashus, se grandet i grannens öga men inte bjälken i sitt eget Turkish: hem suçlu hem güçlü (lit. "to be guilty but strong as well" - To be guilty oneself, yet act innocent and not hesitate to impugn others.) Ukrainian: дорікав горщик чавунові, що чорний (uk) "the pot reproached the kettle for being black" насміхалась верша з болота (uk) "the fishing basket ridiculed the swamp" не баче сова, яка сама (uk) "the owl doesn't see itself"

See also

• hypocrisy
• people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
• methinks the lady doth protest too much