jack of all trades, master of none

See also: jack of all trades

English

Expanded form of jack of all trades, which originally was sometimes used as a term of praise.^[1]^[2]

This phrase has itself been (rarely) expanded to a couplet:

Jack of all trades, master of none,

though oftentimes better than master of one.

(idiomatic) A person who has a competent grasp of many skills but who is not outstanding in any one.

person who has a competent grasp of many skills

Japanese: 器用貧乏 (きようびんぼう, kiyōbinbō)
Latin: Johannes factotum ("Johnny do-it-all", New Latin)
Persian: همه‌کاره و هیچ‌کاره‎‎
Portuguese: pau para toda obra (Brazil, wood for every construction)
Russian: подмасте́рье всех ремёсел, ма́стер ни одного́ m (podmastérʹje vsex remjósel, máster ni odnovó), за всё берётся, да не всё удаётся m (za vsjo berjótsja, da ne vsjo udajótsja), автофотовеломототелерадиомонтёр m (avtofotovelomototeleradiomontjór) (jocular)
Spanish: aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada ("apprentice of everything, teacher of nothing")

↑ Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988)
↑ “Re: Jack”, ESC, The Phrase Finder, April 13, 2000

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