French expression: Appeler un chat un chat
Friday July 25, 2008
What does the idiomatic French expression appeler un chat un chat mean? Learn all about it here, and then share your thoughts.
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More: French expressions
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Comments
“To call a spade a bloody shovel”…
Je suis anglais et je dois admettre que je n’ai jamais entendu cette expression !
“To call a spade a spade” est certainement la phrase plus utilisée en Grande-Bretagne, même si la première est plus amusante !
En fait, c’est vrai que le mot « spade » est probablement assez osé aussi en anglais britannique de nos jours, étant sans doute péjoratif. Et on hésite quand on pense au mot le plus problématique parmi les outils innocents souvent employés dans le jardin… le « hoe » !
Your assertion that “to call a spade a bloody shovel” is an equivalent to “call a spade a spade” is utterly wrong. The latter means to speak plainly and honestly and not use euphemisms as you’ve indicated. The former means exactly the opposite. To call a spade a (bloody) shovel means that ones does NOT speak plainly, rather one avoids saying something that might be true but unpallatable.
En espanol -Vino es vino y pan es pan.
“To call a spade a spade” is an expression heard in my house 75 years ago and meant to us to ell things outright and true. I thought is was from the US side of the pond?? Maybe I’m wrong as my folks were both from the far side - England and Germany.
won
I am English too and I have never heard of the expression to call a spade a bloody shovel!
this expression means to be totally honest when giving your opinion on anything.In Australia another way is to say im being fair dinkum about it(aussie expression)
“To call a spade a spade” is from the card game bridge where people will bid using conventions and perhaps open with one club when they really mean one spade.
And isn’t is sad that we lose the ability to use certain innocent words because they sound like something else that really would be horribly offensive?
I think not, since Bridge is not much more than 100 years old and the saying dates back to (at least) 1647 (John Trapp’s Mellificium theologicum, or the marrow of many good authors: “Gods people shall not spare to call a spade a spade, a niggard a niggard.” [NB “niggard” is not an early version of “n****r”).
I would also like to echo what Chris said about the “bloody shovel”, at least that was the meaning when I (once) heard it used. Anyone got an OED handy? Apparently there is a reference in there (for 1919 usage).
Here in Australia, we have heard of “to call a spade a bloody shovel” (although “to call a spade a spade is more common). I totally disagree with Chris. The “shovel” expression is not opposite to the “spade” - it’s a more extreme and colourful version of it. If one were to speak of avoiding saying something that’s true but might be unpallatable and instead use euphemisms, one might say “to call a spade an instrument for turning soil for cultivation purposes”, or something like that!!
I have lived in London all my life (58 years) and have never heard the expession “to call a spade a bloody shovel”. Maybe its a regional thing? The expression “to call a spade a spade” was common, and to say someone “called a spade a spade” mean’t they didn’t “mince their words”
This is such a great website…
Mercie beaucoup!
The correct expression is “to call a spade a spade, and not a bloody shovel”. I have never heard anyone British say “to call a spade a bloody shovel”
Your lessons on French familiar expressions are amusing as well as useful. I read the French edition of Reader’s Digest, which I recommend as useful for picking up everyday French vocabulary, particularly in the humorous sections. Each edition has an English lesson on an American expression (i.e., “to beat the band,”) explained in French terms, with a paragraph in both languages clarifying its meaning.
OK, back to the cats.. There’s a similar expression in Spanish about not getting served cat as rabbit. In a roundabout way it’s also about truth and reality.
why do you change the meaning of an expression in order to be politically correct?
I didn’t change the meaning - I provided information about what people actually use.
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Geez, people are getting pretty indignant here.
I’m american so I’d never heard the bloody shovel one.
I should say that I use the “call a spade a spade” very normally and I’m not even 30 yet. I hear it quite a bit and it doesn’t sound antiquainted at all to my midwestern ears.
I guess it’s just interesting how language usage and understanding differs from country to country, region to region, generation to generation and even household to household.
The fact that people are getting offended/indignant that others don’t agree with their experience is just silly at best. Oh well, I guess it makes for a more interesting blog
I really appreciated learning the “chat” phrase and actually I really appreciate the weekly mailings I get. I learn so many interesting and useful tidbits about the language!
Xpy
This is where I originally saw “to call a spade a bloody shovel”: http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/call_a_spade_a_spade/
And this is what the OED says: “in allusions to [to call a spade a spade]… More forcefully, in colloq. phr. to call a spade a (bloody) shovel: to speak with great or unnecessary bluntness.”
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Hi! My native language is spanish, but I also know english (or so I think) and I’ve been studying french for a couple of years. I’ve just discovered this site and it’s awesome; I loved the expressions. Please, keep up this amazing work.
I really like your post. Does it copyright protected?
Yes, everything on this site is under copyright. You can’t copy it to other sites, but you’re more than welcome to link to any page(s) on my site.
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About