hi pot, meet kettle
- idiom
- Informal
:
el que esté libre de pecado que tire la primera piedra
- When Tom criticized Sarah for being late, I thought, "hi pot, meet kettle."
Examples
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When Jane called Mark forgetful, it was a case of hi pot, meet kettle.
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She told him he was selfish, but I wanted to say, "hi pot, meet kettle!"
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He laughed at her disorganization, but she shot back, 'hi pot, meet kettle!'
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Whenever people criticize each other's flaws, someone inevitably says, 'hi pot, meet kettle.'
-
When Jane called Mark forgetful, it was a case of 'hi pot, meet kettle.'
-
He laughed at her disorganization, but she shot back, 'hi pot, meet kettle!'
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Whenever people criticize each other's flaws, someone inevitably says, 'hi pot, meet kettle.'
Synonyms
2
6.7
Say bad things about others while ignoring your own faults
1
7.4
To say someone has a fault you also have
A reply saying the person who criticizes has the same fault
To blame others when you have the same faults
Antonyms
How Accusatory
- Informal
- Informal
46
4.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
This utterance is a cultural allusion to the proverb 'the pot calling the kettle black' and relies on that idiomatic reference; the literal words 'hi', 'pot', 'meet', 'kettle' do not compose a meaning of 'hypocrisy' on their own. A B1 learner who knows the individual words but has not encountered the proverb or idiom would not reliably derive the intended ironic sense, so the expression is idiomatic and unpredictable.
Etymology
Hi pot, meet kettle comes from an older kitchen image: both the pot and the kettle often became black from the stove. If a pot calls the kettle black while it is black itself, the insult rings false, so the phrase is used to point out someone is 'being hypocritical'.