"The pot calling the kettle black" is used to describe a situation in which one person criticizes another for a fault they themselves possess.
I found two alternate explanations for its origin:
The first is that back in the old days, both pots and kettles used to be made of cast iron, a heavy material used to ensure that they held up to direct heat. With use, they collected oil and food residue, and would become streaked with black soot.
The second I find more appealing. The pot saw its black reflection in the shiny, polished kettle. The pot doesn't realize that it is describing itself.
The 'pot' is blind of its own personal characteristics.
Now to the Facebook post that started it all.
National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs can stir up a lot of emotion among the fans. I too have been known to passionately defend my team, the Ottawa Senators. However, the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are notorious for not only defending their team, but for attacking the fans of others.
I remember during this year's regular season, a game where the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing in Ottawa against the Ottawa Senators. I remember some crazy Toronto Maple Leafs fan verbally attacking an Ottawa fan, resulting in a second Toronto fan to pour his beer on the Ottawa fan, which then gave courage to the original Toronto fan to jump and attack the Ottawa fan. This was a fight.
Flash forward to the playoffs, as resent as two weeks ago. The Toronto Maple Leafs did not make it to the playoffs, again. No. It was the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators that met in the first series of the playoffs. And this time is was a bunch of Montreal fans who attacked two girls - fans of the Ottawa Senators. Now I'm not excusing what occurred here either. I wasn't happy to see this news. But what really enraged me was that a Toronto Maple Leafs fan shared this news on Facebook with the comment "Typical".
I screamed, "I can't believe it. That's a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black!"
Needless to say, I did not respond to the Facebook post. I kept it all in until the publication of this blog post.
I feel better now.