Examples of use:
“To call a spade a spade, it’s a very milky coffee (more so than a latte) with no seasonal flavouring added.”
“Described by her colleagues as a no-nonsense professional ‘who calls a spade a spade’, she reportedly transcended her rheumatology nursing duties and became somewhat of a counsellor for arthritis patients.”
“Love her or loathe her, Lily Allen has always been a pop star who’s called a spade a spade.”
This phrase is believed to originate from the 16th century. Apparently, were it not for a couple of translation errors, this phrase would be “call a bowl a bowl,” which was the original Greek phrase. The Greek word for bowl was mistranslated into Latin by Erasmus as “mattock,” which was mistranslated into English by Nicholas Udall in 1542 as “spade.”
[1] “spade” in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press, 2005.
[2] “call a spade a spade” in The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, by Christine Ammer. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2013.
Photo credit: Michael Simmons
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