origin of "the pot calling the kettle black"

[Peter_Morris]

The following was posted on another message board. Is this true? Seems like folk etymology to me. If not, what is the real origin of the phrase?

I’m getting into this a bit late, but it ought to be said. There’s a lot more to the pot and kettles thing than this. It actually indicates a particular level of hypocrisy.

Tea was traditionally made in two stages. The first stage was to boil water in a kettle. Since this was done over a fire, the outside of the kettle became black with soot, while the inside stayed clean. The second stage was to put tea leaves in a warmed pot and pour the boiling water onto it. This released flavor from the tea into the water. It also released tannin, which stained the inside of the pot very dark brown—almost black—over time, while the outside of the pot stayed clean.

So you see, the kettle is dirty on the outside and clean on the inside, while the pot is clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. When the pot calls the kettle black, it’s saying, “Look how clean (good) I am and how dirty (bad) you are!”, when it’s just skin-deep and inside the reverse is true. The pot is being the worst kind of hypocrite.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

Yes, that’s too complicated. And unnecessary. All you need is soot.

What are the Origins of the Phrase "the Pot Calling the Kettle Black"?

The term “the pot calling the kettle black” is usually used in the sense of accusing someone of hypocrisy. The origins of the phrase date back to at least the 1600s, when several writers published books or plays which included wordplays on the theme of the pot calling the kettle black. Despite suggestions that the phrase is racist or nonsensical, the meaning is actually quite obvious when one considers the conditions of a medieval kitchen.

Typically, pots and kettles were made from heavy materials like cast iron, to ensure that they would last and hold up to heat. Cast iron tends to turn black with use, as it collects oil, food residue, and smoke from the kitchen. Both pots and kettles would also have been heated over an open fire in a kitchen of the medieval period. As a result, they would have become streaked with black smoke despite the best cleaning efforts.

Since both are black, the pot calling the kettle black would clearly be an act of hypocrisy.

Early uses:

This phrase originates in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, or at least in Thomas Shelton’s 1620 translation - Cervantes Saavedra’s History of Don Quixote:

“You are like what is said that the frying-pan said to the kettle, ‘Avant, black-browes’.”

The first person who is recorded as using the phrase in English was William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, in his Some fruits of solitude, 1693:

“For a Covetous Man to inveigh against Prodigality… is for the Pot to call the Kettle black.”

Shakespeare had previously expressed a similar notion in a line in Troilus and Cressida, 1601- “The raven chides blackness.”

[Chronos]

Huh, thanks, Peter. I was going to ask about that exact same thing (yes, that was me on that board).

[Captain_Amazing]

There’s also the 1639 " The pot calls the pan burnt-arse".

[Peter_Morris]

@Chronos

Huh, thanks, Peter. I was going to ask about that exact same thing (yes, that was me on that board).

Yeah, I figured it was you. There are probably 100 people on various message boards called Chronos, but I’d guess that only 1 is in Bozeman, MT, USA.

[Colibri]

@Captain_Amazing

There’s also the 1639 " The pot calls the pan burnt-arse".

I’ll like that one better. I’ll have to remember it.