Learn English – What does “pot-kettle situation” mean

expressions

I heard an expression in an episode of White Collar where a girl says to the butler:

– "Seems we have a pot-kettle situation…"

I have but vague speculations on what that could be based on the context, but since I'm not at all familiar with the expression, I'd like to have it explained explicitly. What does it mean?

Best Answer

The usual wording of this idiom is "the pot calling the kettle black". The idea is that the pot is black itself, so it is not in the position of being able to accuse the kettle of being black. A very similar idiom you will probably be familiar with is "he who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones [at others]", or any variations thereof. Wikipedia has more similar idioms still.

The pot-kettle situation is a shorthand to refer to that idiom. It is not a common shorthand, so you won't find it in a dictionary. It is just a hint by this particular author at the actual idiom.

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