Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

call a spade a shovel

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.10 in modern English

Syllables
cal-l a s-pade a shov-el
IPA
28
Scrabble Score
17
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To put it more than bluntly; to express a truth forcefully; to use exaggerated language to make a statement of fact.

Etymology

From call a spade a spade.

Inflected Forms

calls a spade a shovel (present, singular) calling a spade a shovel (participle, present) called a spade a shovel (participle, past) called a spade a shovel (past)

Questions

What does call a spade a shovel mean?
To put it more than bluntly; to express a truth forcefully; to use exaggerated language to make a statement of fact.
Where does call a spade a shovel come from?
From call a spade a spade.

How to pronounce call a spade a shovel

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “call a spade a shovel”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “call a spade a shovel”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “call a spade a shovel” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.