call a spade a spade

== English == === Alternative forms === call a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel call a shovel a shovel (rare) call a spade a spade, not a big spoon call a spoon a “spoon” and a spade a “spade” (rare) === Etymology === 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 === === Verb === 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) (idiomatic) To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are. ==== Usage notes ==== 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 ==== call a spade a shovel call it as one sees it tell it like it is beat around the bush, beat about the bush pull one's punches ==== Related terms ==== spadish ==== Translations ==== === References === 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