How much would a spade cost—a little one?

一把铲子要多少钱——一把小的？

youdao

Presently an old man with a spade over his shoulder walked through the door leading from the second garden.

过了一会儿，一个老人肩上扛着一把铁锹，从第二个花园的门口出来。

youdao

He would have done better to play a spade now.

他要是现在出一张黑桃牌就更好了。

《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》

"President Obama was the first one to call a spade a spade, basically to say it was an invasion.

VOA: standard.2010.07.05

She shoved a tiny spade into my hands.

她把一个小铲子塞到我手里。

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选

It is time to call a spade a spade and demand compliance with this law.

CNN: Syria must be held to the law of war

But, it seems that, in fifty years, nobody has appeared to call a spade a spade.

FORBES: Mind-Bending Idiocy Is The Reason We Don't Have A Gold Standard Today

Better to call "a spade a spade", as we used to say before political correctness or public sensitivity took hold.

BBC: Thursday 24 April