Jack of All Trades

Noun

jack of all trades (plural jacks of all trades)

(idiomatic) One competent in many endeavors, especially one who excels in none of them.

1618, Geffray Minshull, Essayes and characters of a prison and prisoners:

Now for the most part your porter is either some broken cittizen, who hath plaid Jack-of-all-trades, some pander, broker, or hangman, that hath plaid the knaue with all men, and for the more certainty his embleme is a red beard, to which facke hath made his nose cousin german.

1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. 25:

"I am my own engineer, and my own carpenter, and my own plumber, and my own gardener, and my own Jack of all Trades," said Wemmick.

1912, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Where There's A Will, Ch. 5:

A fellow can always get some sort of a job—I was coming up here to see if they needed an extra clerk or a waiter, or chauffeur, or anything that meant a roof and something to eat—but I suppose they don't need a jack-of-all-trades.

Synonyms

factotum, handyman, sciolist


Etymology

1610s, from sense Jack (“man (generic term)”). Originally a term of praise (competent in many endeavors), today generally used disparagingly, with emphasis on (implied or stated) “master of none”, as in later longer form jack of all trades, master of none.

First attested in Essayes and characters of a prison and prisoners, by Geffray Minshull, published 1618 (written 1612), as Jack-of-all-trades.

Jack of all trades, master of none is a figure of speech used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills but is not necessarily outstanding in any particular one.

The earliest recorded versions of the phrase do not contain the second part. Indeed they are broadly positive in tone. Such a Jack of all trades may be a master of integration, as such an individual knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring their disciplines together in a practical manner. This person is a generalist rather than a specialist. A person who is exceptional in many disciplines is known as a polymath or a "Renaissance man"; a typical example is Leonardo da Vinci. The phrase became increasingly cynical in connotation during the 20th century.

A female person of this kind is being described as Jill of All Trades.

In Elizabethan English the quasi-New Latin term Johannes factotum ("Johnny do-it-all") was sometimes used, with the same negative connotation that Jack of all trades sometimes has today.

The term was famously used by Robert Greene in his 1592 booklet Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit, in which he dismissively refers to William Shakespeare with this term, the first published mention of the writer.

In 1612, the English language version of the phrase appeared in the book Essays and Characters of a Prison by English writer Geffray Mynshul originally published in 1618, and probably based on the author's experience while held at Gray's Inn, London, when imprisoned for debt.

Mynshul uses only the first half of the phrase in the book, which may indicate that the phrase was in common usage at the time he wrote his account. Indeed, the jack of all trades part of the phrase was in common use during the 17th century and was generally used as a term of praise. 'Jack' in those days was a generic term for 'man'.

The 'master of none' element appears to have been added later and the expression ceased to be very flattering.

Today, the phrase used in its entirety generally describes a person whose knowledge, while covering a number of areas, is superficial in all of them, whilst when abbreviated as simply jack of all trades is more ambiguous and the user's intention may vary, dependent on context.

In North America, the phrase has been in use since 1721, typically in its short form.

The phrase is occasionally extended further into a rhyming couplet which restores the earlier positive meaning,

Jack of all trades, master of none,
Certainly better than a master of one

Other versions appear as:

Jack of all trades, master of none,
Oftimes better than a master of one

Jack of all trades, master of none,
Better than Jack of 1 trade, master of none

Jack of all trades, master of none,
Or a few or a lot, like the Rennaissance man

Another way to counter-act the negative tone of the "master of none" part, is to change it to "Jack of all trades, master of some", which leans more towards the "Renaissance man" sort of person.


source: wikipedia, wiktionary