call a spade a spade
To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He always calls a spade a spade, even when it hurts.”
“You should call a spade a spade if you want people to trust you.”
“They call a spade a spade when they discuss the poor quality of the food.”
“During the meeting, she decided to call a spade a spade and told the team that the project was failing.”
“I appreciate that our new manager prefers to call a spade a spade instead of hiding the budget problems behind confusing corporate language.”
“We need a friend who will call a spade a spade and tell us if this business idea is actually going to work.”
“Rather than masking the harsh reality with polite euphemisms, the veteran journalist preferred to call a spade a spade in his final report.”
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”).
- 01
answer the call of nature
To satisfy a bodily urge to urinate or defecate.
- 02
call a lid
To inform the press that no further news will be released from a governmental body that day.
- 03
call an audible
To change plans at the last minute in response to new information.
- 04
call it
To call it a day
- 05
call it a day
To cease an activity.
- 06
call it a night
To go to bed to sleep.
- 07
call it an early night
To go to bed or cease one's activities earlier in the evening than usual.
- 08
call it stumps
To decide to end an activity; to call it a day.
Last updated August 10, 2026