kettle pot black...

[geff_p]

anyone heard this expression? wots the full version? what does it mean? Is it to do with hypocrisy? cheers

[B00]

Meaning: Someone who faults another for faults conspicuously his own.

Example: You think police should stop all those other terrible drivers? That's like the pot calling the kettle black!

Origin: This expression dates back to the 17th Century. In ancient times, pots as well as kettles would likely be blackened over the open cooking fires of the day.
Alternative: "The pot calling the kettle black: Said of someone accusing another of faults similar to those committed by the accuser. The allusion is to the old household in which the copper kettle would be kept polished, while the iron pot would remain black. The kettle's bright side would reflect the pot. The pot, seeing its reflection, would thus see black, which would appear to be on the side of the kettle. The pot could then accuse the kettle of a fault it did not have." Source: Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870, revised by Adrian Room (Millennium Edition)

[cazzz1975]

There's the Pot calling the kettle black

It refers to a person making a distasteful comment towards another that could also be applied to themselves.

[geff_p]

ar cheers boo + caz. thts bin buggin me 4 a while. thought it wa to do wi hypocrisy, but glad tht i actually understand it now!

[figure]

My pots don't speak to my kettle.

[B00]

Hey newsy, you ok?

and yes I can, in two words too......"It's crap"

;-)

[tiggerblue10]

Hi Boo,

I would have to agree with you threre. It is crap! Lol

[tiggerblue10]

Oooops! Manners tigger - hi everybody. x

[helliebobs]

A colleague at work also incorporates the words 'sooty' and 'arse' although I don't see how that makes sense.

[Caribeing]

people in glasshouses shouldnt throw stones
hypocrisy is a homage that vice pays to virtue.