jack of all trades

Meaning: (idiomatic)Onecompetentin manyendeavours, sometimesregardedas notexcellingin any of them.[from early 17th c.]Synonyms:all-rounder;factotum;generalist;jack of all trades, master of none;sciolistAntonym:jackass of all tradesCoordinate terms:jill of all trades;Jill of all trades, mistress of none1618, G[effray]M[ynshul], “Of Entertainment in Prison”, inEssayes and Characters of a Prison and Prisoners, London:[…][George Eld] for Mathew Walbancke,[…],→OCLC,pages23–24:Novv for the moſt part your Porter is either ſome broken Cittizen, vvho hath plaidIack of all trades, ſome Pander, Broker, or Hangman, that hath plaid the knaue vvith all men, and for the more certainty his Embleme is a red Beard, to vvhich Sacke hath made his Noſe couſin German.This is the earliest attestation of the term in theOxford English Dictionary.1854July –1855March,Herman Melville, “Which has Something to Say about Dr. Franklin and the Latin Quarter”, inIsrael Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile, New York, N.Y.:G[eorge]P[almer]Putnam & Co.,[…], publishedMay 1855,→OCLC,page81:Printer, postmaster, almanac maker, essayist, chemist, orator, tinker, statesman, humorist, philosopher, parlor man, political economist, professor of housewifery, ambassador, projector, maxim-monger, herb-doctor, wit:—Jack of all trades, master of each and mastered by none—the type and genius of his land.1860December –1861August,Charles Dickens, chapter VI, inGreat Expectations[…], volume II, London:Chapman and Hall,[…], published October 1861,→OCLC,page98:"I am my own engineer, and my own carpenter, and my own plumber, and my own gardener, and my ownJack of all Trades," said Wemmick, in acknowledging my compliments.1912,Mary Roberts Rinehart, “Wanted—an Owner”, inWhere There’s a Will, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC,pages52–53:A fellow can always get some sort of a job—I was coming up here to see if they needed an extra clerk or a waiter, or chauffeur, or anything that meant a roof and something to eat—but I suppose they don't need ajack-of-all-trades.1929,Howard W[ilcox] Haggard, “‘In Sorrow Thou shalt Bring forth Children’”, inDevils, Drugs, and Doctors: The Story of the Science of Healing from Medicine-man to Doctor, New York, N.Y.; Evanston, Ill.:Harper & Row,→OCLC, part 2 (The Story of Anesthesia), image caption,page100:In 1823, when this drawing was made, there was anesthesia for dentistry and in fact very little dentistry except the extraction of teeth. Much of this extraction was conducted by itinerant quacks orjacks-of-all-tradeswho did it as a side line to their business.

Examples:

EN: - I was a jack of all trades.
ES: - Un poco de todo.
EN: Del Prince, Gordon's jack of all trades, handyman, companion.
ES: Del Prince, el hombre para todo de Gordon.
EN: Yes, a kind of a fixer, jack of all trades and master of none, like they say.
ES: Sí, una suerte de aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada, como dice el refrán.
EN: The man is a jack of all trades.
ES: Se ha dedicado a todo tipo de oficios.
EN: See, I'm something like a jack of all trades.
ES: ¿ Sabe, mi teniente? Soy algo así como el chico de los recados.
EN: Mr Archie Hammer, jack of all trades, has just checked in... with two bags, some newspaper clippings, a most odd talent... and a master plan to destroy some lives.
ES: Archie Hammer, hombre de oficios, acaba de entrar en un hotel de 3.80 $ la noche... con dos maletas... algunos recortes de prensa, un extraño talento... y un plan maestro para destrozar algunas vidas.
EN: A sort of second-rate jack of all trades.
ES: Una especie de peón de segunda.
EN: And who is this jack of all trades?
ES: ¿Y quién es ese sabelotodo?
EN: -I'm jack of all trades and master of none.
ES: - Soy aprendiz de todo y maestro de nada.
EN: Instructor, yeah, I know, jack of all trades, master of none.
ES: Fui mesero, vendedor, estibador, zapatero, albañil... Hasta que...
EN: He's a jack of all trades.
ES: Es un experto en todos los oficios.
EN: You've got to be a jack of all trades, but not necessarily a master of any, and-and that's an old saying that goes way back.
ES: Se debe ser aprendiz de todo y maestro de nada y es un dicho muy antiguo...
EN: I'm the jack of all trades, here!
ES: Aquí lo tengo que hacer todo.
EN: In there I'm barber, wig maker, surgeon, gardener, apothecary - the household's jack of all trades.
ES: El que lo hace todo en casa.
EN: You're a jack of all trades.
ES: ¿Drogas? Ud. hace de todo un poco.

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