<P> "Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who has dabbled in many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on one . </P> <P> The shortened version "a jack of all trades" is often a compliment for a person who is good at fixing things, and has a very good broad knowledge . A "Jack of all trades" may be a master of integration, as such an individual knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring the individual's disciplines together in a practical manner . This person is a generalist rather than a specialist . </P> <P> In Elizabethan English the quasi-New Latin term Johannes factotum ("Johnny do - it - all") was sometimes used, with the same negative connotation that "Jack of all trades" sometimes has today . The term was famously used by Robert Greene in his 1592 booklet Greene's Groats - Worth of Wit, in which he dismissively refers to actor - turned - playwright William Shakespeare with this term, the first published mention of the writer . </P> <P> In 1612, the English - language version of the phrase appeared in the book "Essays and Characters of a Prison" by English writer Geffray Mynshul (Minshull), originally published in 1618, and probably based on the author's experience while held at Gray's Inn, London, when imprisoned for debt . </P>

Where did jack of all trades come from