Synonyms for call a spade a spade
Grammar : Adj, verb |
Spell : speyd |
Phonetic Transcription : speɪd |
Top 10 synonyms for call a spade a spade Other synonyms for the word call a spade a spade
Définition of call a spade a spade
Origin :- "tool for digging," Old English spadu, from Proto-Germanic *spadon (cf. Old Frisian spada, Middle Dutch spade, Old Saxon spado, Middle Low German spade, German Spaten), from PIE *spe- "long, flat piece of wood" (cf. Greek spathe "wooden blade, paddle," Old English spon "chip of wood, splinter," Old Norse spann "shingle, chip").
- To call a spade a spade "use blunt language, call things by right names" (1540s) translates a Greek proverb (known to Lucian), ten skaphen skaphen legein "to call a bowl a bowl," but Erasmus mistook Greek skaphe "trough, bowl" for a derivative of the stem of skaptein "to dig," and the mistake has stuck.
- As in plainspoken : adj frank
- As in straight-from-the-shoulder : adj frank
- As in straight-out : adj frank
- As in straight-shooting : adj frank
- As in forthright : adj straightforward, honest
- As in frank : adj completely honest
- As in define : verb give description
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019