show one's true colors

English

Alternative forms

• show one's true colours

Etymology

Nautical origin. The word colors (or colours) refers to the flag or ensign which every ship is obliged to fly at sea. It was once a common deception of pirates to “sail under false colours” and fly a friendly flag in order to get within close range of potential targets (other ships) without exciting suspicion. Only when the pirate ship reached close quarters would it unfurl its true colours.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

show one's true colors (third-person singular simple present shows one's true colors, present participle showing one's true colors, simple past showed one's true colors, past participle shown one's true colors or (US also) showed one's true colors)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To reveal how one really is, as opposed to how one has been portrayed or after having been deceptively and deliberately misleading.

Synonyms

• break cover
• show one's true stripes

 

Translations

to reveal how one really is

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 露出真面目 (lùchū zhēnmiànmù)

• Czech: vybarvit, odhalit své ledví
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: näyttää todellinen karvansa (literally “show one's real hair”)
• French: se montrer sous son vrai jour, montrer son vrai visage
• German: Farbe bekennen (de), sein wahres Gesicht zeigen
• Hungarian: kimutatja a foga fehérjét, megmutatja valódi arcát, színt vall (hu)
• Italian: mostrare il proprio vero volto
• Malay: tunjuk belang (literally “show one's stripes”)
• Norwegian: vise sin sanne natur, stikke hestehoven fram
• Polish: pokazywać prawdziwą twarz impf, pokazać prawdziwą twarz pf
• Portuguese: mostrar sua verdadeira cara
• Russian: показа́ть истинное лицо́ (pokazátʹ istinnoje licó, literally “show one's true face”)
• Spanish: mostrar su verdadera cara, mostrar sus verdaderas cartas, mostrarse tal cual es, vérsele las costuras
• Swedish: visa sitt rätta ansikte, visa sitt rätta jag, visa sin sanna natur, bekänna färg (sv)
• Thai: ออกลาย (th) (ɔ̀ɔk-laai)