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?").

Source

Building blocks

Words in this expression

beim· at the der Fehler· mistake das Kind· child nennen· to name schlicht· plain

Grammar that uses this word

Two-way prepositions with accusative (Wohin? / where to)Wechselpräpositionen mit Akkusativ (Wohin?)
Two-way prepositions contrast: Wo? vs. Wohin? (where vs. where to)Wechselpräpositionen Kontrast: Wo? vs. Wohin?
Positional verbs with two-way prepositions (stellen/stehen …)Lokale Verben mit Wechselpräpositionen (stellen/stehen …)
Verb 'helfen' (to help, + dative)Verb 'helfen' (+ Dativ)
Possessive articles in the dativePossessivartikel im Dativ
Subjunctive II 'könnte' (could, from können)Konjunktiv II 'könnte' (können)

Examples

Lass uns das Namen : Das war ein .
Let's call a spade a spade: that was simply a mistake.