Call a spade a spade To speak plainly - to describe something as
it really is. It might be thought that this derives from the
derogatory use of the slang term 'spade', meaning Negro - an
American term originating in the 20th century. That view of it
as derogatory might also be thought to be supported by this
piece from John Trapp's Mellificium theologicum, or the marrow
of many good authors, 1647: "Gods people shall not spare to call
a spade a spade, a niggard a niggard." Trapp's use of 'niggard'
is difficult to interpret. The word had several meanings in the
17th century. It could be used to mean 'miser', which is the
more common usage today, or as a general term of abuse - 'lout',
'barbarian' etc. The word was also used as the name of
firebricks in grates. The co-incidence in form and pronuctiation
of 'niggard' and 'nigger' causes some confusion. Although the
two words probably derived independently, they doubtless
affected each other's development of meaning over time. Whatever
Trapp's intention was, we ca