Sayings tend to be dogmatic and opinionated, tossing apparent truisms around as if they were confetti. Some think that these phrases are the quiddity of generations of folk wisdom. I am not so sure, but what is certain is that when we hear of someone taking up a study or trade, and later know that that person has decided to change and study something else, we start shaking our heads and say: "Jack of all trades, master of none." And if we are lucky enough to be bilingual in Spanish, then we will throw our arms in the air, in despair, and shout "Aprendiz de todo (mucho), maestro de nada." In the movie, Clara´s Ghost, 2017, a character says: "The problem with you is that you are trying to be a Jack of all trades right now..." because normally we don´t complete the phrase. Saying: "You are a Jack of all trades" is more than enough. Not so in Spanish, where the complete sentence is necessary: "Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada," explains Augusto Roa Bastos, in his very interesting Vigilia del Almirante, 1992.
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