pot calling the kettle black

English

WOTD – 8 April 2007

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒt ˈkɔːliŋ ðə ˈkɛtl̩ ˈblæk/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑt ˈkɔliŋ ðə ˈkɛtl̩ ˈblæk/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)

Noun

pot calling the kettle black

(idiomatic) A situation in which somebody comments on or accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares.
I think it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black when she says he is obsessive.

Translations

situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault shared by the accuser

Basque: zozoak beleari, ipurbeltz, xoxoak beleari ipurbeltz (literally “the blackbird to the crow: black tail!”)
Catalan: aquò's la misèria que se trufa de l'espital (literally “it's the charity laughing at the hospital”), el perol diu a la paella: "Si m'embrutes, t'emmascaro"
Chinese:
Cantonese: 半斤笑八兩 / 半斤笑八两 (bun³ gan¹ siu³ baat³ loeng⁵), 五十步笑一百步 (ng⁵ sap⁶ bou⁶ siu³ jat¹ baak³ bou⁶)

Hokkien: 三跤貓笑一目狗 / 三跤猫笑一目狗 (saⁿ kha niau chhiò chi̍t ba̍k káu)

Mandarin: 五十步笑一百步 (zh) (wǔshíbù xiàoyībǎibù)
Czech: zloděj křičí, chyťte zloděje
Dutch: de pot verwijt de ketel dat hij zwart ziet
Esperanto: kaldrono ridas pri poto kaj mem estas kota (literally “a cauldron laughs at a pot and is itself muddy”)
Estonian: pada sõimab katelt, pada sõimab katelt, ühed mustad mõlemad (literally “the pot reproaches the kettle – but they are both black”)
Finnish: pata kattilaa soimaa (fi), pata kattilaa soimaa, musta kylki kummallakin
French: c’est l’hôpital qui se moque de la charité (fr), c’est l’hôpital qui se fout de la charité (fr), c’est l’hôpital qui se moque de l’infirmerie (fr) (literally “it's the hospital laughing at the charity”), c’est la poêle qui se moque du chaudron (fr), c’est la poêle qui se fout du chaudron (fr) (literally “it's the pan laughing at the cauldron”), voir la paille dans l’œil du voisin et ne pas voir la poutre dans le sien (fr), voir une paille dans l’œil de son prochain et ne pas voir une poutre dans le sien (fr), voir la paille dans l’œil de son voisin et ne pas voir une poutre dans le sien (fr) (literally “to see the speck in your neighbor's eye but not the beam in your own”), c’est la pelle qui se moque du fourgon (fr) (literally “it's the shovel mocking the poker”)
Galician: díxolle a pota ao caldeiro (literally “the pot said to the cauldron...”)
Georgian: ყვავმა ყვავს უთხრა შე შავოო (q̇vavma q̇vavs utxra še šavoo, literally “a crow calling the other black”)
German: ein Esel schimpft den anderen Langohr (literally “a donkey calls the other longears”)
Greek: είπε ο γάιδαρος τον πετεινό κεφάλα (el) (eípe o gáidaros ton peteinó kefála, literally “the donkey calling the cock "bighead"”)
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”)
Hindi: उल्टा चोर कोतवाल को डांटे (ulṭā cor kotvāl ko ḍāṇṭe, literally “the thief scolds the chief policeman”)
Hungarian: bagoly mondja verébnek, hogy nagyfejű (hu) (literally “the owl tells the sparrow that it is big-headed”), más szemében a szálkát is meglátja, a magáéban a gerendát sem (literally “to see the splinter in the eye of others, but not the beam in one's own eye”)
Indonesian: maling teriak maling (literally “like a thief calling out another thief”), maling teriak rampok (literally “like a thief shouting at a robber”)
Irish: casadh an chorcáin leis an gciteal (literally “the pot’s reproach against the kettle”), an óinseach ag aoir ar an amadán (literally “the foolish woman making fun of the foolish man”), is maith an té atá ag tabhairt achasáin uaidh
Italian: il bue che dice cornuto all'asino (literally “the ox calling the donkey horned”)
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: 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”), 겨 묻은 개가 똥 묻은 개를 나무란다 (ko) (gyeo mudeun gaega ttong mudeun gaereul namuranda, literally “the chaff-stained dog disparages the dung-stained dog”)
Lithuanian: juokiasi puodas, kad katilas juodas (literally “the pot's laughing that the kettle's black”)
Macedonian: му рекло магарето на зајакот (mu reklo magareto na zajakot)
Malay: kata periuk belanga hitam
Marathi: चोराच्या उलट्या बोंबा (corācyā ulaṭyā bombā, literally “Counter-accusations from the thief.”)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kaste sten i glasshus (no) (literally “throw stones in a glass house”)
Persian: دیگ به دیگ می‌گه روت سیاه (dig be dig mi-ge rut siyâh, literally “the pot tells the other pot: your face is black”), پیاز به سیر میگه دهنت بوه میده (piâz be sir mige dahanet buh mide) (literally "onion tells garlic your breath smells bad"")
Polish: przyganiał kocioł garnkowi (pl) (literally “the cauldron scorned the pot”)
Portuguese: roto falando do esfarrapado (literally “the broken one talking about the shabby one”), o sujo falando do mal lavado (pt) (literally “the dirty one talking about the poorly washed one”), diz o roto ao nu (literally “the shabby says to the naked”)
Romanian: râde ciob de oală spartă (literally “a potsherd laughs at the cracked pot”)
Russian: в чужо́м глазу́ сори́нку заметно, в своём — бревна́ не вида́ть (v čužóm glazú sorínku zametno, v svojóm — brevná ne vidátʹ, literally “In another person's eye one can notice a mote, not in one's own”); чья́ бы коро́ва мыча́ла, а твоя́ б молча́ла (čʹjá by koróva myčála, a tvojá b molčála, literally “Another person's cow could moo, but yours had better be silent”)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ругала се шерпа лонцу широка му уста (literally “the pan mocked the pot for having a large mouth”), ругала се руга па јој била друга

Roman: rugala se šerpa loncu široka mu usta (literally “the pan mocked the pot for having a large mouth”), rugala se ruga pa joj bila druga
Spanish: le dijo la sartén al cazo, le dijo la sartén al cazo: ¡aparta que me tiznas! (literally “the pan said to the pot: move away, you're blackening me!”)
Swedish: kasta sten i glashus (sv) (literally “throw stones in a glass house”), se grandet i grannens öga men inte bjälken i sitt eget (literally “to see the speck in your neighbor's eye but not the beam in your own”)
Telugu: దొంగకు తేలు కుట్టినట్లు (doṅgaku tēlu kuṭṭinaṭlu, literally “the thief stung by a scorpion”)
Thai: ว่าแต่เขาอิเหนาเป็นเอง (th) (wâa-dtɛ̀ɛ-kǎo-ì-nǎo-bpen-eeng)
Turkish: tencere dibin kara, seninki benden kara (tr) (literally “"Pot, your bottom is black." "Yours is blacker!"”)
Ukrainian: дорікав горщик чавунові, що чорний (uk) (dorikav horščyk čavunovi, ščo čornyj, literally “the pot reproached the kettle for being black”), насміхалась верша з болота (nasmixalasʹ verša z bolota, literally “the fishing basket ridiculed the swamp”), не баче сова, яка сама (ne bače sova, jaka sama, literally “the owl doesn't see itself”)
Vietnamese: chó chê mèo lắm lông (vi) (literally “the dog calling the cat hairy”)
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.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: ^{(please verify)} i mjeri shan të përmjerrin (literally “the miserable reproaches the one who urinated on himself”)
Arabic: ^{(please verify)} ان كان بيتك من زجاج فلا ترم الناس بالحجارة (literally “if your house is of glass, don't throw rocks at others”)
Assamese: ^{(please verify)} [script needed] (Khaale Hkhingik haanhe, literally “the Shaal fish laughs at the Shingifish”)
Bengali: ^{(please verify)} [script needed] (haluni bole chhuch re tor Pichhe kano Chheda!, literally “the Sieve tells the needle to mind the hole in its back!”)
German: ^{(please verify)} wer im Glashaus sitzt, soll nicht mit Steinen werfen (de) (literally “who sits in the glass house, shouldn't throw stones”)
Malay: ^{(please verify)} periuk mengumpat belanga (literally “the pot mocking the claypot”)
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 烏鴉笑豬黑，自己不覺得自己黑色 / 乌鸦笑猪黑，自己不觉得自己黑色, ^{(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 / 龟笑鳖无尾, ^{(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)
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} rugala se sova sjenici da ima velike oči (literally “the owl mocked the tit for having large eyes”), ^{(please verify)} rugala se šerpa loncu, a i ona garava (literally “the casserole laughs at the pot, and they are both sooty”)
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} apártate que me tiznas, dijo la sartén al cazo (literally “move away, you are blackening me, said the pan to the pot”) ^{(please verify)} el burro hablando de orejas (literally “the donkey talking about ears”) (Colombia), ^{(please verify)} el comál le dijo a la olla (literally “the grill said to the pot”) (Mexico), ^{(please verify)} cachicamo diciéndole a morrocoy conchúo (literally “an armadillo telling a turtle it is too hard shelled”) (Venezuela), ^{(please verify)} la olla le dice a la sartén (literally “the pot said to the frying pan”) (Peru)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} kasta inte sten i glashus (literally “don't throw stones in glass houses”)
Thai: ^{(please verify)} ว่าแต่เขา อิเหนาเป็นเอง (wâa dtàe kăo ì-năo bpen eng, literally “Enau accuses others, but he himself is guilty”)

References

^ 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

[1] Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, by William Morris, Mary Morris

[2] Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870, revised by Adrian Room (Millennium Edition)

[3] Pot, in Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, by E. Cobham Brewer, 1898 edition

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