- “Jack of all trades, master of none” refers to a person who possesses a basic understanding of multiple fields but lacks depth in any of them.
- Sometimes an abbreviated form of this expression is used, jack of all trades, which can have either a negative or a positive connotation.
- Just as a "jack of all trades" refers to a man with versatile skills, a "jill of all trades" refers to a woman with multiple capabilities.
- Originally, this wasn’t the case and the label ‘Jack of all trades’ carried no negative connotation, the ‘master of none’ part being added later.
- — Sarah is the jack of all trades in the office whereas I just work on accounting tasks. — In track and field, decathletes are truly jacks of all trades.
- The phrase, jack of all trades, describes a particular kind of person. Jack is a very common name, originally a nickname (a diminutive in linguistics) for John.
- 1610s, from sense Jack (“man (generic term)”). Originally a term of praise (competent in many endeavors), today generally used disparagingly, with emphasis on...
- Origin of this idiom. The term ‘jack of all trades’ originally came from the 14th century when the name Jack was a general name given to the masses.
- However, there is an alternative approach that challenges this conventional wisdom—the path of the "Jack of All Trades."
- The complete version of the saying goes: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”