Jack of all trades, master of none

"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills, but spends so much time learning each new skill that they cannot become an expert in any particular one.

The earliest recorded versions of the phrase do not contain the second part. Indeed, they are broadly positive in tone. Such a Jack of all trades may be a master of integration, as such an individual knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring their disciplines together in a practical manner. This person is a generalist rather than a specialist.

Origins

In Elizabethan English the quasi-New Latin term Johannes factotum ("Johnny do-it-all") was sometimes used, with the same negative connotation[1] that "Jack of all trades" sometimes has today. The term was famously used by Robert Greene in his 1592 booklet Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit,[2] in which he dismissively refers to William Shakespeare with this term, the first published mention of the writer.

In 1612, the English-language version of the phrase appeared in the book "Essays and Characters of a Prison" by English writer Geffray Mynshul (Minshull)[3] originally published in 1618,[4] and probably based on the author's experience while held at Gray's Inn, London, when imprisoned for debt.[5]

Mynshul uses only the first half of the phrase in the book, which may indicate that the phrase was in common usage at the time he wrote his account. Indeed, the 'jack of all trades' part of the phrase was in common use during the 17th century and was generally used as a term of praise. 'Jack' in those days was a generic term for 'man'.

"Master of none"

The 'master of none' element appears to have been added later; the expression ceased to be very flattering. Today, the phrase used in its entirety generally describes a person whose knowledge, while covering a number of areas, is superficial in all of them. When abbreviated as simply 'jack of all trades', it is ambiguous; the user's intention is then dependent on context.[6] In North America, the phrase has been in use since 1721,[7] typically in its short form.

The full phrase as a Couplet:

Jack of all trades, master of none,
though oftentimes better than master of one.

In other languages

Sayings and terms resembling 'jack of all trades' appear in almost all languages. Whether they are meant positively or negat, and are dependent on the context. While many of thesefer to a "jack of all trades" in them, the fundamental idea they are trying to convey may be entirely different.

See also

References

  1. Sourcetext.com
  2. "There is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country." Groatsworth of Wit; cited from William Shakespeare (ed. Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller) The Complete Works (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2002) p. xlvii.
  3. "Geffray Minshull (Mynshul), English miscellaneous writer (1594? - 1668)". Giga-usa.com. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  4. "Essayes and characters of a Prison and Prisoners originally published in 1618". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  5. "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988)
  6. "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996)
  7. "Baidu article on Tigerbalm (in Chinese)". Baike.baidu.com. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  8. Rob Keetlaer. "Robkeetlaer.nl". Robkeetlaer.nl. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  9. "Employing Group Method as a Way of Teaching: A Continuation of What Obtains in Society" (PDF). Retrieved 3 August 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.