call a spade a spade
call a spade a spade verb: to put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.
Verb
call a spade a spade (third-person singular simple present calls a spade a spade, present participle calling a spade a spade, simple past and past participle called a spade a spade)
call a spade a spade meaning in Tamil, Kannada and Vietnamese
call a spade a spade in Tamil
- உள்ளதை உள்ளவாறு சொல், மனதில் பட்டதை வெளிப்படையாக சொல்லுதல்
call a spade a spade in Kannada
- ಸತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಹೇಳು, ಹೆದರದೆ ಇದ್ದದ್ದನ್ನು ಇದ್ದಂತೆ ತಿಳಿಸು
call a spade a spade in Vietnamese
- to speak the truth
- gọi đích danh
Forms of call a spade a spade
| third-person singular present | calls a spade a spade |
|---|---|
| present participle | calling a spade a spade |
| past participle | called a spade a spade |
| past | called a spade a spade |
| alternative form | call a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel |
| alternative form | call a spade a spade, not a big spoon |
| alternative form (rare) | call a shovel a shovel |
| alternative form (rare) | call a spoon a “spoon” and a spade a “spade” |
Origin of call a spade a spade
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”).
Questions about call a spade a spade
- What does call a spade a spade mean?
- Call a spade a spade means to put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.
- What is call a spade a spade in Tamil?
- Call a spade a spade in Tamil is உள்ளதை உள்ளவாறு சொல், மனதில் பட்டதை வெளிப்படையாக சொல்லுதல். See Call a spade a spade meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is call a spade a spade?
- Call a spade a spade is a verb.
- What is the past tense of call a spade a spade?
- The past tense of call a spade a spade is called a spade a spade.
Words near call a spade a spade in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: call a spade a spade (page history and authors); call a spade a spade (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); call a spade a spade (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-call a spade a spade.ogg.
Cite this entry: “call a spade a spade.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/call_a_spade_a_spade. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.