When someone accuses another of a misdeed or wrongdoing, but is himself guilty of the same thing, that’s the “pot calling the kettle black.” This expression began showing up in English documents in the early 1600s, but the sentiment is timeless.

The phrase recalls a cooking scene over an open fire or hearth where both pot and kettle are blackened by smoke. Since both vessels are equally begrimed, one could not, as it were, “accuse” the other of being the darker. So by extension, one who commits a “dirty deed” should not criticize someone else for doing the same. It would be as though the “pot were calling the kettle black.”

Illustrating one of the phrase’s more droll incarnations is English author John Clark, who, in 1639, wrote, “The pot calls the pan burnt-arse.” The expression is by now so familiar to English speakers that it is sometimes simply reformulated to the brief phrase “pot and kettle.” If you’re curious about such clichés as the one featured today, there is a wealth of resources available to you. Visit the reference sections of your library or bookstore for cliché dictionaries, or simply type any expression into your search engine.