call a spade a spade

Meaning

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

Translations

appeler un chat un chat

dire pane al pane

het kind bij de naam noemen

Al pan pan y al vino vino

llamar al pan

pan y al vino

das Kind beim Namen nennen

vino

🍷

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”).