Dictionary

pot o' one en · NOUN

Etymology

Apparently an allusion to those weavers who kept their own individual tallow-pots: see 1997 citation.

Meanings

1. (Yorkshire) A solitary, withdrawn or independent person.
   • My grandmother always referred to me as a 'pot o' one' as, being the only one, I kept to myself. The saying I believe is strictly West Yorkshire, and is to do with the weaver's trade. When replacing a broken end in the loom the weavers dipped the end in a pot of warm tallow, which was kept for general use. However, some weavers, of a solitary and a little withdraw persuasion, would not use the common tallow-pot, and kept their own personal pot, and became known as a 'pot o' one'. The term is not used in a derogatory sense, but rather in tolerant approbation as being of an independent persuasion. 1997, David Paynter, Clive Upton and J.D.A. Widdowson, Yorkshire Words Today: a glossary of regional dialect, The Yorkshire Dialect Society and the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, page 68

Forms