call a spade a spade

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To speak directly and bluntly; to avoid euphemism: “The prosecutor said, ‘Let's call a spade a spade. You didn't borrow the money, you stole it.’”

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Words nearby call a spade a spade

call-and-response, Callanetics, callant, Callao, Callas, call a spade a spade, callathump, callback, call-board, call box, callboy

How to use call a spade a spade in a sentence

ROME — What does it take for a Hollywood A-lister to get a private audience with Pope Francis?
Pope Francis Has the Pleasure of Meeting Angelina Jolie for a Few Seconds|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Note: UNICOR uses its inmates for everything from call center operators to human demolishers of old computers.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is the Mexico that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and most major U.S. corporations, are eager to call amigo.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Al Qaeda has never managed to carve out a large chunk of real estate to call its own—in Afghanistan it was a guest of the Taliban.
ISIS’s Futile Quest to Go Legit|Jamie Dettmer|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Who else would see a former spouse accused of underage sex and call him ‘the greatest man there is’?
Fergie Dives Into Prince Andrew’s Sex Scandal|Tom Sykes|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Now-a-days it is the bankrupt who flouts, and his too confiding creditors who are jeered and laughed at.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Everything is topsy-turvy in Europe according to our moral ideas, and they don't have what we call "men" over here.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
It was like his beautiful courtesy to call me in and introduce me to Blow instead of letting me go away.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
He felt himself the meanest, vilest thing a-crawl upon this sinful earth, and she—dear God!
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
All that scientific bric-a-brac in the cupboard had far better be thrown away.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

Other Idioms and Phrases with call a spade a spade

call a spade a spade

Speak frankly and bluntly, be explicit, as in You can always trust Mary to call a spade a spade. This term comes from a Greek saying, call a bowl a bowl, that was mistranslated into Latin by Erasmus and came into English in the 1500s. Also see tell it like it is.

call a spade a spade

Words nearby call a spade a spade

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How to use call a spade a spade in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with call a spade a spade