i'm confused. how does that even make sense. pots and kettles are not necessarily black in color...

 

they are when you cook over an open flame with them.

 

even stainless steel pots??

 

The saying is extremely old, back when everything was made out of black iron.

 

Pots and kettles were made of heavy cast iron when this term was "coined".

People would "season" the pot/kettle by "burning" it over an open flame until it was "blackened" prior to cooking with it for the first time.

 

aah. so this saying is really not appropriate today cuz most folks would not be familiar with the context of the saying...

 

The proper quotation is:

Said the pot to the kettle, "get away blackface." (Sp: Dijo la sarten a la caldera, quitate alla ojinegra.)

- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote de la Mancha, 1605, 1615

 

It's not a term; it's a saying.

 

To the hot place, all of you!!!! There is some serious hair-splitting going on in here.

If you want to get super specific its not a saying either it's a phrase or adage. Using the word "saying" as a noun is not the most proper engrish you can use. It does exist as a noun at m-w.com, but....they suggest you use another word like adage or phrase

 

It's like the microwave calling the magnetic cooking surface "old technology."