IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishthe pot calling the kettle black
Meaning: Said when someone criticizes another person for a fault they have themselves.
Example: “Marcus called me lazy while lying on the couch at noon. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
Origin: An early English form appears in Thomas Shelton's 1620 translation of Don Quixote, where the frying pan scolds the kettle for being black. William Penn used the pot-and-kettle version in Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Both vessels were blackened by the open fire.
Equivalents in other languages
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
- Spanish: Dijo la sartén al cazo Literally: Said the frying pan to the saucepan
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
More English idioms
- not sleep a wink To not sleep at all.
- work oneself into a lather To become very agitated, anxious or angry.
- welcome with open arms To greet or accept someone with great warmth and enthusiasm.
- count on the fingers of one hand To be very few in number, five or fewer.
- give someone an earful To scold someone at length, or tell them angrily what one thinks.
- not know which way to turn To be so overwhelmed or confused that one does not know what to do.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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