E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pot.
This word, like “father,” “mother,” “daughter,” etc., is common to the whole A’ryan family. Greek, potr, a drinking-vessel; Latin, poc-ulum—i.e. potaculum; Irish and Swedish, pota; Spanish, pote; German, pott; Danish, potte; French, Welsh, Anglo-Saxon, pott, etc.
1
Gone to pot. Ruined, gone to the bad. The allusion is to the pot into which refuse metal is cast to be remelted, or to be discarded as waste.
2
“Now and then a farm went to pot.”—Dr. Arbuthnot.
The pot calls the kettle black. This is said of a person who accuses another of faults committed by himself. The French say, “The shovel mocks the poker” (La pelle se moque du fourgon).
3
To betray the pot to the roses. To betray the rose pot—that is, the pot
which contains the rose-nobles. To “let the cat out of the bag.” (French, Decouvrir le pot aux roses.)
4
Brazen and earthen pots. Gentlemen and artisans, rich and poor, men of mark and those unstamped. From the fable of the Brazen and Earthen Pots.
5
“Brazen and earthen pots float together in juxtaposition down the stream of life.”—Pall Mall Gazette.
r, a drinking-vessel; Latin, poc-ulum—i.e. potaculum; Irish and Swedish, pota; Spanish, pote; German, pott; Danish, potte; French, Welsh, Anglo-Saxon, pott, etc.
