"call a spade a spade"

[Andrea Morrow]

Dave writes:
_____________________
To my knowledge, no one has ever used "call a spade a spade" with the intent
of it being racial slur. But that has not stopped some people from
interpreting it that way--not unlike the objections to "niggard" or
"picnic."

The interpretation is not rational. It makes no sense, either linguistically
or logically. But there it is.
____________________

I've been reading this thread and not commenting, because I have nothing to
add about the history or derivation of this phrase.  However, some of the
views expressed have been troubling, in that they do exactly what is
described by the phrase being discussed.  I was moved to write because this
comment so clearly embodies what is meant (among people I grew up with in
rural, working-class Michigan) by "calling a spade a spade":  the writer is
not trying to be offensive, he is just "telling it like it is."  And if
those pesky people of color can't take it, too bad - no offense was meant.
(To understand how the phrase "call a spade a spade" works, all you have to
do is substitute one of the more widely recognized racial slurs in place of
"spade": he isn't afraid to call a _____ a ________.)

I'm not saying that EVERYONE uses the phrase with a racial meaning, but I am
pretty sure that it's equally mistaken to say NO ONE does.  And the phrase
does make logical sense as a racial slur, because of the (already discussed)
resonances of "spade" among some speakers.  I grew up hearing the
phrase used as a defense of racist attitudes or behavior, and for that
reason, I wince when I hear it used in a supposedly race-free context
today.

Andrea



On 6/18/08, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "call a spade a spade"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To my knowledge, no one has ever used "call a spade a spade" with the
> intent
> of it being racial slur. But that has not stopped some people from
> interpreting it that way--not unlike the objections to "niggard" or
> "picnic."
>
> The interpretation is not rational. It makes no sense, either
> linguistically
> or logically. But there it is.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Benjamin Barrett
> Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 7:23 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "call a spade a spade"
>
> Thanks for that. I had guessed at the meaning of spade, but how do you
> use "call a black person a black person"? Would you say something like
> "I called him a spade a spade"? BB
>
> On Jun 17, 2008, at 7:17 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> >
> > At 6:54 PM -0700 6/17/08, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> >> 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
> >
> > from AHD4:
> >
> > 1. Games
> > a. A black, leaf-shaped figure on certain playing cards.
> > b. A playing card with this figure.
> > c. also spades (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The suit of cards
> > represented by this figure.
> >
> > 2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.
> >
> > Interestingly to me, there is apparently no etymological relation
> > between this "spade2" and the digging tool "spade1".  I had always
> > assumed they were related.
> >
> > LH
> >
> >>
> >> On Jun 16, 2008, at 4:39 AM, Charles Doyle wrote:
> >>
> >>> For some speakers of American English (by no means all of them), the
> >>> word "spade" has lost all applications except for use as a
> >>> derogatory racial designation.
> >>>
> >>> On the reanalysis of the proverbial phrase "call a spade a spade,"
> >>> one might consult Wolfgang Mieder's monograph _Call a Spade a Spade:
> >>> From Classical Phrase to Racial Slur_ (NY: Peter Lang, 2002).
> >>>
> >>> --Charlie
> >>> _____________________________________________________________
> >>>
> >>> ---- Original message ----
> >>>> Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:02:08 -0400
> >>>> From: Doug Harris <cats22 at FRONTIERNET.NET>
> >>>
> >>> 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?
> >>>
> >>>> dh
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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