Talk:Jack of all trades

2007-02-7 Automated pywikipediabot message

This page has been transwikied to Wiktionary.
The article has content that is useful at Wiktionary. Therefore the article can be found at either here or here (logs 1 logs 2.)
Note: This means that the article has been copied to the Wiktionary Transwiki namespace for evaluation and formatting. It does not mean that the article is in the Wiktionary main namespace, or that it has been removed from Wikipedia's. Furthermore, the Wiktionarians might delete the article from Wiktionary if they do not find it to be appropriate for the Wiktionary.
Removing this tag will usually trigger CopyToWiktionaryBot to re-transwiki the entry. This article should have been removed from Category:Copy to Wiktionary and should not be re-added there.

--CopyToWiktionaryBot 04:10, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Unambigously Negative?

The author of this article seems to think that Jack of all Trades is used as a pejorative. I have only ever seen it used as a compliment by people who value a wide range of skills. I don't have any references or anything so I don't feel comfortable just making a change. Pdarley

Id have to disagree, I've always heard it being used in a negative way --58.110.132.66 11:38, 25 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say it's like this: "Jack of all trades, master of none, though ofttimes better than master of one" is balanced. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is negative. When it gets chopped off even further, to simply "He's a Jack of all trades", it becomes more ambiguous again. I've heard it used both positively and negatively. JudahH —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.86.61.252 (talk) 00:47, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I am removing the reference to negativity since there is no citation and I have only heard this figure of speech in real life as a compliment. If somebody finds sources which state otherwise then by all means reverse my edit and add the citation. --Elephanthunter 19:00, 1 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm willing to buy that it may be negative under certain circumstances, but I've always heard it used positively. Negative, maybe. Unambiguously so? There's debate on the subject even here, I'd say that pretty much shoots down any claim of unambiguous anything. Malimar (talk) 18:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Being "Master of None" isn't a positive statement. The title of the page is "Jack of All Trades, Master of None". If it were simply "Jack of All Trades", it might be a different story. 72.49.127.241 (talk)

Dubious

Jack of all trades is not pejorative. Find a reliable source that says otherwise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.248.147.66 (talk) 07:37, 25 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps you should consider the fact (hidden covertly away in that inconspicuous and rarely-read thing we call a "heading") that "Jack of all trades, master of none", not merely "Jack of all trades", is the topic under discussion. Kindest, Crusoe (talk) 09:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Early Attribution, Spelling of Last Name

Geffray Mynshul or Geffray Minshull, Essayes and characters of a prison and prisoners essays Originally published: London : M. Walbancke, 1618 It is spelled both ways in this reference: http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/796255?lookfor=tait&offset=1333&max=1475 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.161.72.97 (talk) 08:41, 9 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The blacksmith's mare and the cobbler's children are the worst shod.

- : En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo (In the home of the blacksmith, a wooden knife).

I don't know who puts together these articles on idioms and aphorisms, but they are certainly useful. I'd like to propose the one above.