jack of all trades is a master of none
a Jack of all trades is a master of none
proverb A man who is somewhat skilled in or adept at a wide variety of tasks or abilities will not have the time or dedication to become truly masterful in any one thing. (When speaking of a woman, the phrase "a Jill of all trades is a master of none" can be used.) Tom just sort of floated between different interests after he left high school, but he could never settle on anything career-worthy. A Jack of all trades is a master of none, as they say. My father was always quite skilled in a lot of different areas, but he never found much success in any of them. I guess Jack of all trades is a master of none.
See also: all, jack, master, none, of, trade
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
jack of all trades is a master of none
Prov. If you are able to do a lot of things fairly well, you will not have time to learn to do one thing extremely well. Jill: I envy Bob; he can do so many things. He writes novels, paints pictures, makes sculptures, and even plays the dulcimer. Jane: It's true he does a lot of things, but he probably doesn't do them all terribly well. A jack of all trades is a master of none, you know.
See also: all, jack, master, none, of, trade
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
- a Jack of all trades is a master of none
- a Jill of all trades is a master of none
- teach a man to fish
- it takes a village
- village
- a woman's work is never done
- best-laid plans go astray, the
- the best-laid plans
- the best-laid plans go astray
- the best-laid plans of mice and men