Explaining “It takes a thief to catch a thief”

What does it mean?

The phrase "It takes a thief to catch a thief" suggests that someone who has experience or skills similar to those of a wrongdoer is better equipped to understand and catch them. It implies that understanding or thinking like a thief is necessary to catch one.

Tone

Origin

The phrase "set a thief to catch a thief" is a proverb dating back to the mid-seventeenth century, first documented in a play published in 1665, where it was referred to as an "old saying." It may have been influenced by a remark in an epigram by Callimachus, an ancient Greek writer, which conveyed a similar idea.