call a spade a spade

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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A mistaken translation of Ancient Greek τὰ σῦκα σῦκα, τὴν σκάφην δὲ σκάφην ὀνομάσων (tà sûka sûka, tḕn skáphēn dè skáphēn onomásōn, calling figs figs, and a trough a trough). The word σκάφη (skáphē, trough) was mistranslated by the Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus as σκαφείον (skapheíon, digging tool).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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call a spade a spade (third-person singular simple present calls a spade a spade, present participle calling a spade a spade, simple past and past participle called a spade a spade)

  1. (idiomatic) To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to say things as they really are.

Usage notes

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  • Some take offence at this expression because one sense of spade is an ethnic slur for a black person. However, this expression long predates the racial use of spade, and is etymologically unrelated: this expression refers to the digging implement, while the racial slur derives from the playing card suit.

Coordinate terms

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Translations

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References

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  • Michael Quinion (2004) “Call a spade a spade”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.
  • Edward Spenser (1881) "prone to call a spoon a "spoon" and a spade a "spade,"" in Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Settlement of Baltimore, page 117, King Brothers, Baltimore