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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.
The combined aim is to convert the old adage from 'a Jack of all trades and a master of none' into 'a Jack of all trades and a master of one.' The educational rewrite of the old proverbial phrase survived into the 1950s in such outlets as Mosquito News (1951) and All Hands magazine (1956).
JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES, MASTER OF NONE definition: 1. said about someone who is able to do many things, but is not an expert in any 2. said about…. Learn more.
The meaning of JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES, MASTER OF NONE is a person who can do many things but is not an expert in any of them.
Definition: A person who is good at a wide variety of things, but who isn’t great at any one thing. This expression has a negative connotation and is used specifically to describe people, not objects. Sometimes an abbreviated form of this expression is used, jack of all trades, which can have either a negative or a positive connotation.
We now use ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ in a derogatory way. 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. Nevertheless, medieval Jacks were pretty much at the bottom of the social tree.
jack of all trades, master of none. A person who is able to do many things but does not have a high amount of skill in any one area. A: "My brother can play several instruments, but none very well." B: "You know what they say—jack of all trades, master of none."
