The earliest appearance of the idiom is in Thomas Shelton 's 1620 translation of the Spanish novel Don Quixote. The protagonist is growing increasingly restive under the criticisms of his servant Sancho Panza, of which one is that "You are like what is said that the frying - pan said to the kettle, ' Avant, black - browes '. '' The Spanish text at this point reads: Dijo la sartén a la caldera, Quítate allá ojinegra (Said the pan to the pot, get out of there black - eyes). It is identified as a proverb (refrán) in the text, functioning as a retort to the person who criticises another of the same defect that he plainly has. Among several variations, the one where the pan addresses the pot as culinegra (black - arse) makes clear that they are dirtied in common by contact with the cooking fire.
where did the phrase the pot calling the kettle black come from
Spanish novel Don Quixote