Answer me this. Yesterday at work Paul was chatting with someone and he used the expression 'let's call a spade a spade'. The person to whom he said this gasped and replied 'that's RASCIST!' Paul was momentarily baffled and the person quickly pointed out that a 'spade' is a horrible, old-fashioned slang word for a black person (although I can't imagine why).
Paul knew that but said that it had never occured to him that that expression referred to anything like that. We are, in fact, certain that it doesn't...but at the same time if it is going to offend people we don't want to use that phrase.
What do you think? Is it rascist? Should people stop using it?
5 comments:
Yeah, Google "spade a spade" and click on origin. You'll find the origin of that particular slang expression. Mom2
I've never heard that before and I use, "let's call a spade, a spade" all the time! I guess I'm gonna have to change it to "Let's call an apple, an apple." Is that allowed?
Just wait until he uses the word 'niggardly' at work sometime!
It's not a phrase I really use, but like anything, if it's THAT big of a deal to someone, I just wouldn't use it. Trying to explain that the TRUE origin of the phrase is from Greek Antiquity would probably be a lose cause. There are thousands of other fun idioms in our language to choose from anyway.
I agree, if there is a possibility that it will offend someone we should stop, but it kind of irks me.
Apparently the word 'spade' is a mistranslation of the original which was probably basin or trough...so how about 'let's call a trough, a trough'?
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