What it means
You say this when someone’s giving you grief for doing something they’re just as guilty of. It’s a tidy little hypocrisy callout. The image is the whole joke: both the pot and the kettle are black with soot, so one acting all spotless is taking the piss. Perfect for knocking a smug person off their high horse.
Usage examples
"Dave reckons I’m tight for splitting the bill, but he’s still forgetting his wallet like it’s a hobby. The pot calling the kettle black, mate."
"He told me off for being late to the meeting, then strolled in twenty minutes after everyone else. Pot calling the kettle black if you ask me."
"My brother moaning that I never tidy up is the pot calling the kettle black, his room looks like a jumble sale exploded."
"Mum saying I live off takeaways while she’s ordering chips on the app again is the pot calling the kettle black."
"You can’t call me dramatic after that stunt in the group chat. Bit pot calling the kettle black, innit?"
Voice comments
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Where it comes from
This saying has been around in English since the early 1600s. It comes from old hearth cooking, when both pots and kettles got blackened by soot, so one accusing the other looked properly daft. A version also shows up in Thomas Shelton’s 1620 English translation of Don Quixote.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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