Meaning of Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none | Babel Free

Definitions

Noun. [C2]

Examples

“And has your dismay decreased when, having made your moan, the excellent lady says cheerfully, that Sarah, the “general servant”—a Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none—shall try her hand at a “hash?””

“Directly you come to incomes below a thousand a year, the number of servants is often reduced to a maid-of-all-work, more or less competent according to her wages, which run from seven to fifteen shillings a week. At the former price she knows absolutely nothing; at the latter something of everything. She cooks, washes, sweeps, dusts, makes the beds, clears the baths, and answers the door. All is grist that comes to her mill; and if she is Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none, one must admit that an English-bred servant would not be one quarter so suitable to colonial requirements.”

“The question has to be asked: are theatre nurses making the best use of their skills? Or are they being used to plug the gaps in the theatre service and so becoming Jills-of-all-trades and mistresses of none?”

“Many substantial yeoman or ‘middling’ households included two maidservants at most; artisans’ or husbandmen’s families could afford only a single one. Thus the typical female servant was the Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none.”

““The previous owner built the gate but I’m responsible for the nails. I’m a Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none.””

“‘And you’re…Bea?’ she asked shyly. ‘That’s right, dear—Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none!’”

CEFR level