What the hell is Pot Kettle Black???

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-07-04 12:31am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:"The Kettle's on the phone, Pot. Should I tell him that you called him black?"

To everyone, I hear this pot kettle black thing over and over again. What is it? What does it mean?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-07-04 12:34am

"The pot calling the kettle black" is a VERY OLD phrase that's used to imply that someone is a hypocrite.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-07-04 12:36am

Oh okay. I thought it was supposed to be a logical fallacy of some kind.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-07-04 12:39am

Shin, I don't want this to sound insulting, but why exactly are you so shockingly oblivious and naive sometimes?

I mean, I personally have known what that phrase has meant since I was about five years old.

Frankly, I find what you don't know to be absolutely baffling at times...

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2003-07-04 12:43am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Frankly, I find what you don't know to be absolutely baffling at times...

Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?

Everyone has something they don't know which others will undoubetdly consider "common knowledge"

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-07-04 12:49am

There are a lot of things that most people know well that some might not know at all.

But with Shinova, it makes it sound like he spent his all of his 18 years raised under a laundry hamper in his parents' basement...

No offence, of course.

EDIT: I'm not just talking about this one phrase, mind you, but about everything.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-07-04 12:50am

I never heard the phrase being used till I was about 16.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2003-07-04 12:53am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:There are a lot of things that most people know well that some might not know at all.

But with Shinova, it makes it sound like he spent his all of his 18 years raised under a laundry hamper in his parents' basement... No offence, of course.

This totally reminds me of a bit I heard a comedian do (whose name escapes me now) some time ago. Went something like:

"Now don't get me wrong, you're a great guy and everything, all I'm saying is is that your sister's a whore--No offense! No offense!"

He does that a few times. Funny stuff.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-07-04 12:54am

I hadn't really heard it used much, but, I know what it means.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2003-07-04 01:00am

I thought pot kettle black was a logical fallacy. For instance, when someone says pot, they say it's also a kettle, and then they say that it's black. So you say that it is also something similar when that's not necessarily true. And then you say that there is some other related characteristic to whatever it is that's similar. But it winds up being completely unrelated to what was originally said. Get it? That's how I always thought it was...(shrugs) So then how does hypocrisy get tied in with "pot kettle black"??

Drewcifer · Post by **Drewcifer** » 2003-07-04 01:01am

I always thought it was a saying from pioneer days, when pots and kettles were made from cast iron (which is black in color, for you youngin's), but a little googling reveals that the phrase is from Cervantes' Don Quixote. Interesting. Learn something new everyday

edit: clarity

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-07-04 01:04am

Re: IRG:

That was never the point of the phrase.

The point is that both the pot and the kettle (two different kinds of things, actually) are black in the scenerio. The pot is chastising the kettle for being black, despite the fact that it is also black.

apocolypse · Post by **apocolypse** » 2003-07-04 01:04am

IRG CommandoJoe wrote:I thought pot kettle black was a logical fallacy. For instance, when someone says pot, they say it's also a kettle, and then they say that it's black. So you say that it is also something similar when that's not necessarily true. And then you say that there is some other related characteristic to whatever it is that's similar. But it winds up being completely unrelated to what was originally said. Get it? That's how I always thought it was...(shrugs) So then how does hypocrisy get tied in with "pot kettle black"??

Because, IIRC the saying was originally "Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" And, since both pots and kettles were black in the old days, for one to call the other black would be hypocritical since they are both black to begin with. I hope that made sense...

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2003-07-04 01:36am

*Knife puts his head in his hands and shakes*

I can't believe that this is an actual thread.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-07-04 01:40am

My brain is now far too melty to do anything...but oi vey.

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2003-07-04 01:48am

Black! His gloves of finest mole!
Black! His codpiece made of metal!
His horse is blacker than a vole!
His pot is blacker than his kettle!

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2003-07-04 01:56am

Wow, the pot is black but thinks it's stuck up and so morally superior to the other cast iron cookware. Just like in an argument, with good argument you can use this to point out a connection so obvious as the fact that both are black.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-07-04 01:56am

Shinova wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:"The Kettle's on the phone, Pot. Should I tell him that you called him black?"

:P

To everyone, I hear this pot kettle black thing over and over again. What is it? What does it mean?

As Spanky said, its a way of telling someone that they're a hypocrite. This stems from the fact that quite a while back, both pots and kettles were made from cast-iron, and were completely black as a result. So when one has a pot calling a kettle black, it's hypocritical because the pot is black as well.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-07-04 02:04am

Yeah but Spank, I happen to have a red kettle. What now, Spank? What now?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-07-04 02:25am

I'm not interested to play with you and respond to your baitings, Superman...

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-07-04 02:28am

I can always count on the spansker to take whatever I say seriously.

EmperorChrostas the Cruel · Post by **EmperorChrostas the Cruel** » 2003-07-04 02:43am

The saying goes further back than you think. Aesops time, before cast iron was used.
The original fable is a silver tea kettle, and a tin pot are both used over a campfire. Soot from a wood fire blackens both. The teapot snobbishly remarks about how much better he is, than the cook pot. The cook pot remarks that they are both pots, just different sizes. The tea kettle quips he is better because he is shiney silver, while the pot is dull and black.
Hence, the (tea)pot calling the kettle black.
Claiming to be better, when you are the same.

Read this, and many other fables in the 60s, as a small child. Any other metaphores you need explaining, like sour grapes,dog in the manger,birds of a feather, ect.

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What the hell is Pot Kettle Black???

What the hell is Pot Kettle Black???

Re: What the hell is Pot Kettle Black???