Call a spade a spade (nonfiction)

The expression "call a spade a spade" comes from the work of Plutarch, who originally wrote "call a fig a fig and a trough a trough." Figs and troughs were crude slang for the vulva, so what Plutarch meant was "call a c*nt a c*nt". When Erasmus (1466-1536) translated Plutarch’s work & changed it to a garden spade to avoid embarrassment.