call a spade a spade

Cultural  

1. 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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call a spade a spade Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

“I mean, call a spade a spade: Bron is on his last couple of years — however many years he decides to play,” Austin Reaves said.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2025

So, I think the unwillingness to actually call a spade a spade, maybe it’s justified, but there’s no actual solution.

From Slate • Jun. 28, 2023

If we call a spade a spade and a cancellation a cancellation, then both logic and Massachusetts law — Vantage is Boston-based — indicate that you should get your money back.

From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2022

“Why hasn’t it happened? Let’s call a spade a spade: They’re not looking,” Anderson said.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 11, 2022

To them I am only Adah or, to my sisters sometimes, the drear monosyllabic Ade, lemonade, Band-Aid, frayed blockade, switchblade renegade, call a spade a spade.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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