The Pot calling the kettle black

[bobbyp]

Wher does this phrase come from?

[andy hughes]

It means the accuser of the action is as guilty as the accused. The illustration is that of the pot referring to the kettle as back - the bottom of an old-fashioned kettle would be blackened from standing in the heart, or on the stove. The pot, of course, stands in the same place, so its base will be just as black as the kettle's.

[SimonMorton]

The phrase is, I think, a corruption of "Tin pots are like cattle,black". How it came to it's present form and meaning is a complete mystery to me.