Kelly
Nitro Member
The sad thing is that Phillips took two sayings that don't have anything to do with race.....and turned them into racial slurs.
Showing your true colors =
To "show one's true colors" refers to an individual who has been masking or hiding their true nature, but finally acts or behaves in a way that is more in keeping with their natural character. In the movie, Sleeping Beauty, the evil queen shows her true colors, by letting out an evil laugh, after the princess bites into the poisoned apple.
Calling a spade a spade =
To "call a spade a spade" is to speak honestly and directly about a topic, specifically topics that others may avoid speaking about due to their sensitivity or embarrassing nature. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1913) defines it as
“ To be outspoken, blunt, even to the point of rudeness; to call things by their proper names without any "beating about the bush".
The phrase was introduced to English in 1542 in Nicolas Udall's translation of Erasmus, Apophthegmes, that is to saie, prompte saiynges. First gathered by Erasmus:
Philippus aunswered, that the Macedonians wer feloes of no fyne witte in their termes but altogether grosse, clubbyshe, and rusticall, as they whiche had not the witte to calle a spade by any other name then a spade.
It is evident that the word spade refers to the instrument used to move earth, a very common tool. The same word was used in England and in Holland, Erasmus' country of origin.
The phrase predates the use of the word "spade" as an ethnic slur against African-Americans, which was not recorded until 1928; however, in contemporary U.S. society, the idiom is often avoided due to potential confusion with the slur.
READ! POTENTIAL CONFUSION WITH THE SLUR....which means NOT a slur!
Showing your true colors =
To "show one's true colors" refers to an individual who has been masking or hiding their true nature, but finally acts or behaves in a way that is more in keeping with their natural character. In the movie, Sleeping Beauty, the evil queen shows her true colors, by letting out an evil laugh, after the princess bites into the poisoned apple.
Calling a spade a spade =
To "call a spade a spade" is to speak honestly and directly about a topic, specifically topics that others may avoid speaking about due to their sensitivity or embarrassing nature. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1913) defines it as
“ To be outspoken, blunt, even to the point of rudeness; to call things by their proper names without any "beating about the bush".
The phrase was introduced to English in 1542 in Nicolas Udall's translation of Erasmus, Apophthegmes, that is to saie, prompte saiynges. First gathered by Erasmus:
Philippus aunswered, that the Macedonians wer feloes of no fyne witte in their termes but altogether grosse, clubbyshe, and rusticall, as they whiche had not the witte to calle a spade by any other name then a spade.
It is evident that the word spade refers to the instrument used to move earth, a very common tool. The same word was used in England and in Holland, Erasmus' country of origin.
The phrase predates the use of the word "spade" as an ethnic slur against African-Americans, which was not recorded until 1928; however, in contemporary U.S. society, the idiom is often avoided due to potential confusion with the slur.
READ! POTENTIAL CONFUSION WITH THE SLUR....which means NOT a slur!
