Idiom
Pot calling the kettle black
The pot calling the kettle black describes someone criticizing another person for a fault they have themselves.
How people use it
People usually say "That's the pot calling the kettle black" when someone complains about a habit they share, like a messy roommate calling you messy. It points out that the critic is guilty of the same thing. The tone is informal and a bit teasing or pointed. Some listeners assume the phrase is about skin color, but it comes from soot on cooking pots. A related saying is "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."
Also said: the pot calling the kettle black.
Examples
- Sam called me messy, which is the pot calling the kettle black, given his desk.
- Grace complained that I'm always late, and that's the pot calling the kettle black.
- It was the pot calling the kettle black when the slowest runner mocked our pace.
Where it comes from
In old kitchens, pots and kettles were made of iron and hung over open fires, so both were black with soot. A pot accusing a kettle of being black is absurd, since it is just as black. A similar saying, about a frying pan and a cooking pot, appears in Don Quixote in the early 1600s, and the English version shows up in print later that century.
Check yourself
1. When is it the pot calling the kettle black?
Answer: When someone criticizes a fault they also have. The idiom points out that the critic is guilty of the same thing.
2. Which situation fits the idiom?
Answer: A man who never recycles scolds his neighbor for not recycling.. He criticizes his neighbor for a habit he has himself.
Word game fan? See every word hiding in KETTLE.