call a spade a spade
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
A mistaken translation of Ancient Greek τὰ σῦκα σῦκα, τὴν σκάφην δὲ σκάφην ὀνομάσων ('calling figs figs, and a trough a trough'). The word σκάφη (skaphe, “trough”) was mistranslated by the medieval scholar Desiderius Erasmus as σκαφείον (skapheion, “digging tool”).
[edit] Verb
- (idiomatic) to speak the truth; to say things as they really are
- (Can we date this quote?) Maybe God just calls a spade a spade, when the president talks to God. - Bright Eyes
[edit] Usage notes
- Sometimes mistakenly taken as derogatory from the sense of spade that refers to a black person. However those two expressions are unrelated; this refers to the digging instrument, and the other to the card suit.
[edit] Translations
to speak the truth
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[edit] See also
- call it like one sees it
- tell it like it is
- beat around the bush, beat about the bush
- pull one's punches
[edit] References
- "Call a spade a spade" in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds, 2004.