Well ain't that the ritz calling the saltine a ...

Is it now acceptable to proclaim the pot calling the kettle black in polite company?

I keep hearing this saying roll off the tongues of supposedly enlightened persons who apparently haven't a clue it might carry offense for others.

Is there something wrong with the kettle being black?  I have always wondered what the hell that is about?

Is this colloquialism some deep intellectual insight based on ancient cultural wisdom, perhaps Latin? Or is this exactly what it sounds like?

Well I decided to conduct some deep, exhaustive and comprehensive research on this phrase, and here is what wikipedia has to say about it:


"Oho!' said the pot to the kettle; "You are dirty and ugly and black! Sure no one would think you were metal, Except when you're given a crack."

"Not so! not so! kettle said to the pot; "'Tis your own dirty image you see; For I am so clean -without blemish or blot- That your blackness is mirrored in me"

Hmmmm.

So I propose that we change this colloquialism just a bit to see if it gives offense to the seemingly oblivious.