das Kind beim Namen nennen
to call a spade a spade; to name things plainly
Origin
Attested in figurative use since Early New High German; probably from an old mocking verse about illegitimate birth. Made famous by Goethe's "Faust" ("Who dares call the child by its true name?").
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Pronoun 'es' (it, nominative)Pronomen 'es' (Nominativ)
- Verb 'sein' (to be), present: er/sie/es ist (he/she/it is)Verb 'sein' im Präsens: er/sie/es ist
- Verb 'haben' (to have), present: er/sie/es hat (he/she/it has)Verb 'haben' im Präsens: er/sie/es hat
- Regular verbs: er/sie/es-form (stem + -t)Regelmäßige Verben: er/sie/es-Form (Stamm + -t)
- Irregular verbs: e → ie (sehen, lesen)Unregelmäßige Verben: e → ie (sehen, lesen)
- Separable prefix 'mit-' (mitkommen, to come along)Trennbares Präfix 'mit-' (mitkommen)
Examples
Lass uns das Namen : Das war ein .
Let's call a spade a spade: that was simply a mistake.