jack of all trades, master of none

See also: jack of all trades

English

Jack of all trades, master of none; Jack-of-all-trades, master of none; jack-of-all-trades, master of none; jack of all trades—master of none

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

In the 21st century 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

Chinese:
Mandarin: 萬金油／万金油 (zh) (wànjīnyóu), 博而不精 (zh) (bó'érbùjīng)
Czech: devatero řemesel, desátá bída
Dutch: twaalf stielen, dertien ongelukken
Finnish: jokapaikanhöylä, jokapaikan höylä
French: bon à tout, propre à rien
German: Hansdampf in allen Gassen (de)
Japanese: 器用貧乏 (ja) (きようびんぼう, kiyōbinbō)
Latin: Johannes factotum (literally “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 (literally “apprentice of everything, teacher of nothing”), quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta (es)
Thai: รู้อย่างเป็ด

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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