What it means
You sling this at someone when they’re having a go at you for a flaw they’ve got themselves. It’s a delicious little hypocrisy check, like a mirror shoved right back with a cheeky grin. The whole joke is in the image: both pot and kettle are sooty from the same fire, so who’s really the black one here?
Usage examples
"She moaned about me being late all week—talk about the pot calling the kettle black, she strolls in twenty minutes after me every day."
"He told me I should eat less junk food while holding a bag of crisps... pot, meet kettle."
"My uncle’s always preaching about saving money, then blows it on scratchcards—the pot calling the kettle black doesn’t even cover it."
Voice comments
No one has left their voice yet. Break the ice.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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