"call a spade a spade"

[Murrah Lee]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
Date: June 17, 2008 8:54:25 PM CDT
Subject: Re: "call a spade a spade"


What exactly does the racial connotation term mean? From this thread,
it appears to be the most common meaning in US English, but I'm not
sure what it would mean or how it could be used that way. I'm familiar
only with the meaning of not using euphemisms or circumlocutions for
something bad. BB
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The term "spade" for an American black person probably derives from
the phrase, "black as the ace of spades," which was used at least in
East Texas in the 1950s to describe a particularly black-skinned person.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org