“A Jack of all trades is a master of none” is probably one of the most commonly distorted quotes - not just syntactically but also semantically. People use this short-cut version of the original quote1 to sarcastically suggest a person does not have enough skill or knowledge of a trade although s/he may exhibit ‘some’ competence – which severely deviates its meaning from original intent of the quote.
Let me start with an example to set up some context. John is a young boy who is pretty quick with calculations and helps his father with accounts of his grocery business. He scored 95% in Maths exam this term. After school, he goes to a local club to play football. Last year he participated in a competition where he scored three goals helping his team become the runner up. His mother is most impressed by the cake he bakes on special occasions. His friends got to taste the cake he made at his sister’s last birthday party. Robert (one of his classmates) said “a jack of all trades ‘is’ a master of none” when Lily praised about John’s diverse skills. This is a common scenario where someone is labelled as a ‘jack’ because they demonstrate multi-dimensional competence. In other words, this usually happens when a person exhibits skills in more than one trades. Other examples would be, a doctor who can dance, an engineer who can paint, a cleaner who can sing, a waiter who can play tennis and the list goes on. Each of these would have received the label of ‘jack’ at least once in their lifetime.
Before delving into further discussion, let me draw a clear line between the words ‘Jack’ and ‘Master’. ‘Jack’ is a word traditionally used in English language to refer to a common man without any significant or extraordinary skills, knowledge or experience. Whereas the word ‘master’ commonly refers to a person who has great deal of knowledge and/or skill of a subject matter. Oxford online dictionary defines master as ‘a person who shows a lot of skill at something’. Arguably, Charlie Chaplin was a master comedian and Michael Jackson was a master dancer. Likewise, Ronaldo is a master footballer and Tom Hanks is a master actor. Now if you compare John’s football skills with Ronaldo you may think that John is nothing but a ‘jack’. If so, what about the top national football player in your country, who is not so well regarded globally as Ronaldo? What would you call that player – a jack, a master or something else? It is important to answer these questions sensibly and rationally before we decide to label someone as “jack of all trades”.
Having skill in ‘only one trade’ doesn’t always make the person a master of that trade. Let us take an example of an experienced physicist who has worked in several successful experimental projects and written books. If John can be called a jack footballer because he compares nowhere closer to Ronaldo, the physicist is also not necessarily a master because s/he is not world-renowned as much as Albert Einstein. Moreover, s/he will never know ‘everything’ in the field of physics even after spending a lifetime on it. In this context, I would also like to share a result of a real experiment done by an English Language training instructor where he requested a native English speaker to take an IELTS test. Since IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System, naturally we would assume that a person who has spoken English his whole life would nail the test. However, the overall score obtained was 5.5 (out of 9) which is considered as an intermediate level in the testing system. This serves as an example that knowing only one language doesn’t always make you a master of that language. The point I’m making here is that not every highly skilled or knowledgeable person will be able to know everything or reach a level of world champion. But that doesn’t necessarily make them a mere jack either.
Likewise, having skills in more than one trade or field of profession doesn’t necessarily mean that a person has to be ‘a Jack’. It is possible for people to gain high level of skill in more than one trade. There are two types of people in this category – multitalented and polymath. As evident from the word itself, a multitalented person is someone who demonstrates talents or skills in more than one area – usually at the level or better than an average person on each of those trades. Polymath is person who knows a lot about a lot of subjects – usually at the level of highest distinction in the field. A great example of polymath is Leonardo da Vinci, who was not only an amazing artist, but also an engineer, inventor, mathematician, and much more. While polymaths may not be a common sighting, you can meet a lot of multitalented people who are not jack in any of the trades they show skills in.
Acquiring and demonstrating skills in more than one fields is a privilege denied to many. Before we decide to call someone “a Jack of all trades”, it is also important to ask ourselves – “Am I a jack, a master or something else in one of those trades?”
All Rights Reserved © Dr. Suman Ojha, March, 2022
References:
1 “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
Before delving into further discussion, let me draw a clear line between the words ‘Jack’ and ‘Master’. ‘Jack’ is a word traditionally used in English language to refer to a common man without any significant or extraordinary skills, knowledge or experience. Whereas the word ‘master’ commonly refers to a person who has great deal of knowledge and/or skill of a subject matter. Oxford online dictionary defines master as ‘a person who shows a lot of skill at something’. Arguably, Charlie Chaplin was a master comedian and Michael Jackson was a master dancer. Likewise, Ronaldo is a master footballer and Tom Hanks is a master actor. Now if you compare John’s football skills with Ronaldo you may think that John is nothing but a ‘jack’. If so, what about the top national football player in your country, who is not so well regarded globally as Ronaldo? What would you call that player – a jack, a master or something else? It is important to answer these questions sensibly and rationally before we decide to label someone as “jack of all trades”.
Having skill in ‘only one trade’ doesn’t always make the person a master of that trade. Let us take an example of an experienced physicist who has worked in several successful experimental projects and written books. If John can be called a jack footballer because he compares nowhere closer to Ronaldo, the physicist is also not necessarily a master because s/he is not world-renowned as much as Albert Einstein. Moreover, s/he will never know ‘everything’ in the field of physics even after spending a lifetime on it. In this context, I would also like to share a result of a real experiment done by an English Language training instructor where he requested a native English speaker to take an IELTS test. Since IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System, naturally we would assume that a person who has spoken English his whole life would nail the test. However, the overall score obtained was 5.5 (out of 9) which is considered as an intermediate level in the testing system. This serves as an example that knowing only one language doesn’t always make you a master of that language. The point I’m making here is that not every highly skilled or knowledgeable person will be able to know everything or reach a level of world champion. But that doesn’t necessarily make them a mere jack either.
Likewise, having skills in more than one trade or field of profession doesn’t necessarily mean that a person has to be ‘a Jack’. It is possible for people to gain high level of skill in more than one trade. There are two types of people in this category – multitalented and polymath. As evident from the word itself, a multitalented person is someone who demonstrates talents or skills in more than one area – usually at the level or better than an average person on each of those trades. Polymath is person who knows a lot about a lot of subjects – usually at the level of highest distinction in the field. A great example of polymath is Leonardo da Vinci, who was not only an amazing artist, but also an engineer, inventor, mathematician, and much more. While polymaths may not be a common sighting, you can meet a lot of multitalented people who are not jack in any of the trades they show skills in.
Acquiring and demonstrating skills in more than one fields is a privilege denied to many. Before we decide to call someone “a Jack of all trades”, it is also important to ask ourselves – “Am I a jack, a master or something else in one of those trades?”
All Rights Reserved © Dr. Suman Ojha, March, 2022
References:
1 “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”