France· easy

c'est l'hôpital qui se moque de la charité

it's the hospital mocking the charity (poorhouse)

Meaning

Telling someone off for a fault you have too

Explanation

Used when the person pointing out a fault is guilty of the very same thing. The English equivalent is the pot calling the kettle black.

Example

Il me reproche d'être en retard, lui qui n'arrive jamais à l'heure, c'est l'hôpital qui se moque de la charité !

He's having a go at me for being late, and he's never on time himself. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Origin

In Lyon, the Hôtel-Dieu hospital and the Hospice de la Charité were rival institutions near Place Bellecour. Locals turned their competitive sniping into this phrase around 1894, building on an earlier version recorded in 1865.

Where

Lyon

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