What does the saying the pot calling the kettle black mean?
This saying, which personifies kitchenware in order to make a point about hypocrisy, means “to criticize someone for a fault you also possess.” Per WiseGeek, the phrase dates back to the early 1600s, when most pots and kettles were fashioned from cast iron, a material that acquires streaks of black smoke when heated …
What is another way of saying the pot calling the kettle black?
“You are a hypocrite” Is another good phrase that you can use. “A black calling a mexican a ******” is a good, politically correct one.
Who first said pot calling the kettle black?
What’s the origin of the phrase ‘The pot calling the kettle black’? This phrase originates in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, or at least in Thomas Shelton’s 1620 translation – Cervantes Saavedra’s History of Don Quixote: “You are like what is said that the frying-pan said to the kettle, ‘Avant, black-browes’.”
How do you use pot calling the kettle black in a sentence?
Example Sentences
- I can’t believe that you are upset because I was late.
- Peter called me a liar!
- “How can you blame me like that?
- All politicians blame each other and tell themselves good, it’s like pot calling the kettle black.
- Stop accusing each other – you are both responsible for this accident.
Is pot calling the kettle black irony?
The phrase “Pot calling the kettle black” is a simile. It is used to point out the irony or absurdity of a person who criticises another, for a fault or shortcoming the criticised has. For instance an obese person who criticises another for overeating. A person without a job who called another a lazy layabout.
What did the kettle say to the pot?
The point is illustrated by a poem that appeared anonymously in an early issue of St. Nicholas Magazine from 1876: “Oho!” said the pot to the kettle; “You are dirty and ugly and black!
What’s the difference between a pot and a kettle?
A kettle is for boiling water. It has a spout for pouring. A pot is for cooking liquids like soup.
Can hypocrisy be ironic?
If someone is being hypocritical, that situation may be perceived as ‘ironic’ by a listener who is aware of the hypocrisy, but the hypocrite is not ‘being ironical’ in a rhetorical sense.
Why use a kettle instead of a pot?
In addition to being easier to control the temperature, easy to know when the temperature is correct, and not heating the drinking receptacle, a kettle is also easier to pour out of.
Why do we say “the pot calling the kettle black”?
“The pot calling the kettle black” is used to remind someone that they’re guilty of the same thing they’re accusing another of. “The pot calling the kettle black” is a commonly used English idiom that has its origins in the 17th century.
Why is the pot calling the kettle black?
The term “the pot calling the kettle black” is usually used in the sense of accusing someone of hypocrisy. The origins of the phrase date back to at least the 1600s, when several writers published books or plays which included wordplays on this theme.
What is the origin of pot calling the kettle black?
“. The pot calling the kettle black ” is a proverbial idiom that may be of Spanish origin, of which English versions began to appear in the first half of the 17th century. The idiom is glossed in the original sources as being used of a person who is guilty of the very thing of which they accuse another…
What is a word for “pot calling the kettle black”?
Pot Calling The Kettle Black synonyms. Top synonyms for pot calling the kettle black (other words for pot calling the kettle black) are hi pot meet kettle, pot, kettle and pot, meet kettle. pot calling the kettle black