SpanishDijo la sartén al cazo
Meaning: Said when someone criticizes another person for a fault they have themselves.
Literally: Said the frying pan to the saucepan
Example: “¿Que yo hablo demasiado? Dijo la sartén al cazo.” — I talk too much? That's the pot calling the kettle black.
English equivalent: The pot calling the kettle black
Other ways to say this
Hungarian: Bagoly mondja verébnek, hogy nagyfejű Literally: The owl tells the sparrow it's big-headed
Arabic: الجمل ما يشوف عوجة رقبته (Al-jamal mā yshūf 'awjat raqabatuh) Literally: The camel can't see the bend in its own neck
French: C'est l'hôpital qui se fout de la charité Literally: It's the hospital making fun of the charity ward- Spanish: cachicamo diciéndole a morrocoy conchudo Literally: Armadillo telling tortoise shell-backed
German: ein Esel schimpft den andern Langohr Literally: One donkey scolds the other long-ear
Portuguese: sujo falando do mal lavado Literally: Dirty speaking of the badly washed- French: La paille et la poutre Literally: The straw and the beam
English: the pot calling the kettle black
Italian: Il bue che dice cornuto all'asino Literally: The ox calling the donkey "horned"
Japanese: 目くそ鼻くそを笑う (Mekuso hanakuso o warau) Literally: Eye gunk laughs at nose gunk
Korean: 똥 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다 (Ttong mudeun gaega gyeo mudeun gae namuranda) Literally: The dog with dung on it scolds the dog with chaff on it
Dutch: De pot verwijt de ketel dat hij zwart is Literally: The pot reproaches the kettle for being black
Polish: Przyganiał kocioł garnkowi Literally: The cauldron scolded the pot- Portuguese: Diz o roto ao nu: porque não te vestes tu? Literally: Says the ragged man to the naked one: why don't you get dressed?
Russian: Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя бы молчала (Ch'ya by korova mychala, a tvoya by molchala) Literally: Anyone's cow might moo, but yours should keep quiet
Turkish: Tencere dibin kara, seninki benden kara Literally: "Pot, your bottom is black!" "Yours is blacker than mine."
Chinese: 五十步笑百步 (Wǔshí bù xiào bǎi bù) Literally: Fifty paces laughing at a hundred paces
Origin: A clipped refrán. The full form is dijo la sartén al cazo: quítate allá, que me tiznas ("get away, you're getting soot on me"), and it is also heard as le dijo la sartén al cazo. Benito Pérez Galdós already uses the short form in Los duendes de la camarilla (1903). An older version is in Don Quixote (Part II, chapter 67, 1615), where Sancho says dijo la sartén a la caldera: quítate allá, ojinegra ("get away, black-eyes"); that line gave English its first pot-and-kettle version, in Thomas Shelton's 1620 translation.
More Spanish idioms
- Sale más caro el collar que el perro The extras or upkeep end up costing more than the thing itself, so it isn't worth it.
- Estar en la edad del pavo To be at an awkward teenage phase.
- Tener mala leche To be in a foul mood or have bad intentions.
- No tener pelos en la lengua To speak very bluntly and honestly.
- Ser pan comido To be extremely easy.
- Dar calabazas To reject someone romantically.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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- Embarazada Actually means 'pregnant'. For embarrassed, say avergonzado/a.
- Constipado Actually means 'having a head cold'. Estoy constipado = I have a cold.
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