"call a spade a spade"

[James Smith]

Or, is this phrase still used in European English in its original sense, with no racial meaning?


James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.


--- On Mon, 6/16/08, Paul <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM> wrote:

x

> > The Same Dowd piece, datelined Paris, also included
> this:
> >
> >
> >> 'Angela Merkel dodged when asked at a press
> conference whether she would miss W., but said she liked
> being able to "call a spade a spade with
> him."'
> >>
> >
> >
> >> Twas that a fox paw, an indication of a lack of
> familiarity with American vernacular, or merely a
> hopefully-NOT noteworthy phrase?
> >>

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