J
Every JACK has his Jill1611 R. COTGRAVE Dict. French & English s.v. Demander, Like will to like; a
Iacke lookes for a Gill. 1619 in C. W. Bardsley Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature
(1880) i. The proverb is, each Jacke shall have his Gill. 1670 J. RAY English Proverbs
108 Every Jack must have his Gill... It ought to be written Jyll. 1855 G. J. WHYTE-
MELVILLE General Bounce ii. ‘Every Jack has his Gill,’ if he and she can only find each
other out at the propitious moment. 1940 H. W. THOMPSON Body, Boots & Britches xix.
Every Jack has his Jill; If one won’t, another will. 1986 M. SLUNG More Momilies 47
For every Jack, there is a Jill. men and womenJACK is as good as his masterJack is variously used as a familiar name for a sailor, a member of the common people, a
serving man, and one who does odd jobs.
1706 J. STEVENS Spanish & English Dict. s.v. Pedro, Peter is as good as his Master.
Like Master, like Man. 1868 READE & BOUCICAULT Foul Play II. xx. Is it the general
opinion of seamen before the mast? Come, tell us. Jack’s as good as his master in these
matters. 1936 W. HOLTBY South RidingI. iv. She was far from thinking Jack as good as
his master and explained failure in plebeian upstarts by saying with suave contempt:
‘Well, what can you expect? Wasn’t bred to power.’ 1987 R. HILL Child’s Play viii. 1945
might have seen Britain ready at last for the political assertion that Jack was as good as
his master, but it was still light years away from any meaningful acknowledgement that
Black Jack was as good as White Jack. employers and employees; equalityJACK of all trades and master of noneJack is used here in the sense of unskilled worker, as contrasted with a master of a trade
who had completed an apprenticeship.
1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 3051 Jack of all Trades is of no Trade. 1804 M.
EDGEWORTH ‘The Will’ in Popular Tales ii. 152 ‘How comes it that I am so unlucky?’
‘Jack of all trades, and master of none!’ said Goodenough, with a sneer. 1878 S.