jack of all trades
- idiom
- /dʒæk əv ɔl treɪdz/
- Informal
- They just can't see that you can't be worth the high fees most want to charge as a jack of all trades.
I'm in a tribe where I no longer value it or think it's important to be the Jack of all trades.
- I'm in a tribe where I no longer value it or think it's important to be the Jack of all trades.
- Right when you know the saying of a Jack of all trades is a master of none?
Examples
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At the end of the day, Google TV is a jack of all trades, but it fails to be competent at any of them, let alone master one.
Blog text (1) -
Right when you know the saying of a Jack of all trades is a master of none?
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Yeah, but you know, they say Jack of all trades, master of none.
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Living with Google TV: jack of all trades, master of none.
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And I think, I think being a Jack of all trades is, is really no use to anybody in in a business context.
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He's kind of a jack of all trades.
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There are dozens of ways to drive traffic to your site, but if you try to use everything, you will end up being a "jack of all trades and master of none."
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The difference is that one is a camera phone (jack of all trades, master of none) and the other is an expensive SLR.
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As a small business owner, she finds herself being a jack of all trades, handling marketing, customer service, and accounting.
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In today's job market, being a jack of all trades can be an advantage, allowing individuals to adapt to various roles.
Synonyms
A person who fixes and looks after things around a home or workplace
A person who knows and works in many different areas
A person who does many different jobs for someone else
A person who is good at many different things
A man who does small repair jobs around the home
Someone who knows a little about many things but is not an expert in any
A person who can do many different jobs but is not an expert at any
A woman who can do many kinds of work
A person who can do many different jobs well in a team or workplace
Antonyms
How Versatile
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'all' + 'trade(s)' transparently signal involvement in many kinds of work, and a listener who treats 'jack' as a generic person can infer the basic sense 'a person who does many trades'. However, the item is partly idiomatic — the use of 'jack' as a generic person and the evaluative nuance (not an expert) are not fully predictable from the constituents, so full understanding may require prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom jack of all trades comes from using jack as a common name for an ordinary worker who tried many different trades, like fixing things, painting, or building furniture. The picture of one person doing many jobs is why the phrase means 'able to do many jobs but not an expert'.