Jack of all trades
"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who has dabbled in many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on only one.
In older uses of the phrase, it was meant as a criticism of a person who tries their hand at too many things and perhaps does not do a good job at any of them. The expression eventually became dissociated from its pejorative use. In the 19th century, "a jack of all trades" was often used as a compliment for a person who is good at fixing things and has a good level of broad knowledge. They may be a master of integration: an individual who knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring the disciplines together in a practical manner. This person is a generalist rather than a specialist. A jack of all trades that is highly skilled in many disciplines is known as a polymath.
The use of the phrase has been much debated online and has been the subject of much misconception. Some, like Gary Martin,[1] claim that the phrase had no negative connotations at its origins. However, Martin fails to show examples of it being used positively before the 1800s. Most records of its early use show that, contrary to the now-popular refutation, the phrase did in fact carry criticism until it was reclaimed as possible praise for a person's versatility.
Origins
[edit]The phrase "Jack of all trades" appears to have first been used in "Essays and Characters of a Prison" by Geffray Mynshul (Minshull),[2][3] published in 1618. It was probably based on the author's experience while he was imprisoned for debt in the King's Bench.[4]
In a description of the prison, the author gives a satirical profile of the porter that reads:[5]
"Now for the most part your Porter is either some broken Citizen, who hath plaid Iack [Jack] of all trades, some Pander, Broker or Hangman, that hath plaid the knaue [knave] with all men, and for the more certainty his Embleme is a red Beard, to which Sacke hath made his nose cousin German." (pp. 23-24)[5]
Later Additions
[edit]"Jack of all trades, master of none"
[edit]The "master of none" element appears to have been added in the 18th century. Today, "Jack of all trades, master of none" 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 an ambiguous statement – the user's intention is then dependent on context. However, when "master of none" is added (sometimes in jest), it is unflattering.[6] In the United States and Canada, the phrase has been in use since 1721.[7][8]
"Jack of all trades, master of none, though often times better than a master of one"
[edit]This "fuller" version of the expression is a modern twist on the saying that restores a positive meaning, praising versatility over specialization. The evolution "jack of all trades" shows the transformations that popular phrases undergo over time and attests to the debates around their meanings and connotations with every iteration attempting to reclaim it.
See also
[edit]- Amateur
- Competent man
- Generalist (disambiguation)
- Multipotentiality
- Philomath
- Polymath
- Renaissance Man
References
[edit]- ^ Martin, Gary. "'Jack of all trades' – the meaning and origin of this phrase". www.phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Jack of all trades". Oxford English Dictionary.
- ^ "Geffray Minshull (Mynshul), English miscellaneous writer (1594? - 1668)". Giga-usa.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Sutton, Charles William (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 38. p. 48.
- ^ a b Mynshul, Geffray (1618). Essayes and characters of a prison a. prisoners. 1618. Internet Archive.
- ^ Morris, William and Mary, ed. (1988) [1977]. Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins. New York: HarperCollins.
- ^ The OED notes appearance in The Boston News-Letter in August 1721 as "Jack of all Trades; and it would seem, Good at none."
- ^ Titelman, Gregory Y. (1996). Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings. New York: Random House.