how to say “to call a spade a spade” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-1.m4a” /]לִקְרוֹא לַיֶּלֶד בִּשְׁמוֹ

In researching the English expression to call a spade a spade, I discovered that it might be offensive to some. So let’s skip straight to the parallel Hebrew term.

לקרוא לילד בשמו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-1.m4a” /] means literally to call the boy by his name. We use it when we want to stop beating around the bush and ignoring the elephant in the room – in this case, the elephant is a little boy.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-2.m4a” /]הגיע הזמן להפסיק לפחד, ולקרוא לילד בשמו.

It’s time to stop being afraid, and to call the boy by his name.

and

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-3.m4a” /]אולי נפסיק עם כל המטפורות ונקרא לילד בשמו.

Maybe we should stop with all the metaphors and call the boy by his name.

The phrase broken down:

לקרוא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-4.m4a” /] – to call

לילד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-5.m4a” /] – (to) the boy

בשמו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-6.m4a” /] – by his name