THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK

The phrase “the pot calling the kettle black” indicates that a criticism aimed at someone else could apply equally to the criticiser.

 This expression dates from the early 1600s when cooking was done on an open hearth, which blackened nearly all the utensils used [1], so the pot would have been as black as the kettle.


 Examples of use:

 “In 1820, George, who had just become King George IV, vehemently opposed Caroline becoming Queen and so sued her for divorce based on infidelity (which was the pot calling the kettle ‘black’).”

 “Furthermore, he told the court, RBS itself had provided services to “many of these fraudsters” — a case, he added, of ‘the pot calling the kettle black’.”

 “It was the pot calling the kettle black – but there was also truth in the barb.”


 [1] “pot calling the kettle black, the” in The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, by Christine Ammer. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2013. 

 Photo credit: PETER M