Jack of all trades

Welcome to English in a Minute.

If you have ever heard American English, you have probably heard this before: I'm a Jack-of-all-trades.

This expression can tell you a lot about a person in American English. It means a person can do anything.

A: So what do you do for a living?
B: I'm a handywoman. I fix and replace just about anything, from computers to showers drains. I guess you could say I'm a Jack-of-all-trades.

Basically, when you say "Jack-of-all-trades" in a conversation, it's another way to say that someone has many professional talents.

You may also hear this phrase used "Jack of all trades, master of none," it was used to describe people who learned how to do a lot of different things, but, they weren't able to focus on doing one thing correctly.

And that's English in a Minute.

Related Articles
  1. What's Up? (13/4/30)