There are two interpretations of this phrase,[1][2] though some sources give only the first interpretation.[3]
In the first interpretation, it refers to the fact that both cast-iron pots' and kettles' 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 (unlikely) 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.
Hebrew: כל הפוסל במומו פוסל(he)(kol hapossel, b'mumo possel, literally “all who disqualify [another due to a fault], disqualifies [him through the reflection] of his own fault”)[5], טֹל קֵיסָם מִבֵּין שִׁנֶּיךָ טֹל קוֹרָה מִבֵּין עֵינֶיךָ(he)(tol qesám mibén shinécha tol qorá mibén eynécha, literally “Take a splinter out of your teeth Take a beam out of your eyes”)[6]
Japanese: 目糞鼻糞を笑う(ja)(mekuso hanakuso o warau), 目糞鼻糞(mekuso hanakuso, literally “the eye booger laughing at the nose booger”), 五十歩百歩(ja)(gojuppo hyappo)
Korean: 똥묻은 개가 겨묻은 개 나무란다(ttongmudeun gaega gyeomudeun gae namuranda, literally “the dung-covered dog scolds the chaff-covered dog”)
Persian: دیگ به دیگ میگه روت سیاه (dig be dig mige rut siyâh, literally “the pot tells the other pot: your face is black”)[9], پیاز به سیر میگه دهنت بوه میده (piâz be sir mige dahanet buh mide)(literally "onion tells garlic your breath smells bad"")
Yoruba: ṣágo ń búgò(literally “the demijohn insults the bottle”)
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Korean: (please verify)똥 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다(ko)(ttong mudeun gaega gyeo mudeun gae namuranda, literally “the dung-stained dog reproaches the chaff-stained dog”)[10], (please verify)겨 묻은 개가 똥 묻은 개를 흉본다(gyeo mudeun gaega ttong mudeun gaereul hyungbonda, literally “the chaff-stained dog disparages the dung-stained dog”)[11]
Mandarin: (please verify)烏鴉笑豬黑,自己不覺得自己黑色, (please verify)乌鸦笑猪黑,自己不觉得自己黑色(literally “the crow mocks the blackness of the pig, ignoring its own blackness”)(Sichuan), (please verify)龜笑鱉無尾, (please verify)龟笑鳖无尾(literally “The turtle makes fun of the Chinese soft-shell turtle that they have short tails”)(Zhangzhou, Fujian)
^ Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, by William Morris, Mary Morris
^ Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870, revised by Adrian Room (Millennium Edition)
^ Pot, in Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, by E. Cobham Brewer, 1898 edition
^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1898), “Pot”, in (please provide the title of the work)[1], 2nd edition edition, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company, retrieved 2007-11-17