English
- Jack of all trades, master of none; Jack-of-all-trades, master of none; jack-of-all-trades, master of none; jack of all trades—master of none
Etymology
Expanded form of jack of all trades, which originally was sometimes used as a term of praise.[1][2]
In the 21st century this phrase has itself been (rarely) expanded to a couplet:
- Jack of all trades, master of none,
- though oftentimes better than master of one.
Pronunciation
Noun
jack of all trades, master of none (plural jacks of all trades, masters of none)
- (idiomatic) A person who has a competent grasp of many skills but who is not outstanding in any one.
Synonyms
Coordinate terms
Translations
person who has a competent grasp of many skills
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 萬金油 / 万金油 (zh) (wànjīnyóu), 博而不精 (zh) (bó'érbùjīng)
- Czech: devatero řemesel, desátá bída
- Dutch: twaalf stielen, dertien ongelukken
- Finnish: jokapaikanhöylä, jokapaikan höylä
- French: bon à tout, propre à rien
- German: Hans Dampf in allen Gassen (de) m
- Japanese: 器用貧乏 (ja) (きようびんぼう, kiyōbinbō)
- Latin: Johannes factotum (literally “Johnny do-it-all”) (New Latin)
- Persian: همهکاره و هیچکاره
- Portuguese: pau para toda obra (Brazil, wood for every construction)
- Russian: подмасте́рье всех ремёсел, ма́стер ни одного́ m (podmastérʹje vsex remjósel, máster ni odnovó), за всё берётся, да не всё удаётся m (za vsjo berjótsja, da ne vsjo udajótsja), автофотовеломототелерадиомонтёр m (avtofotovelomototeleradiomontjór) (jocular)
- Spanish: aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada (literally “apprentice of everything, teacher of nothing”), milusos
- Thai: รู้อย่างเป็ด
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References
- ^ Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988)
- ^ “Re: Jack”, ESC, The Phrase Finder, April 13, 2000