Disingenuous, frank, and earnest
“Frank and earnest,” is a duplicative fixed phrase often employed in government press statements (“After frank and earnest discussions, all parties have agreed to give themselves raises”). More constructively, it was the inspiration in 1972 for the creation of “Frank and Ernest,” a very popular single-panel newspaper comic strip originally drawn by Bob Thaves (and now by his son Tom).
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J. Devney:
February 12th, 2018 at 11:20 am
I have found different information about the name “Frank.” In English, it is a nickname for “Francis.” According to behindthename.com, it is from Latin Franciscus, which means “Frenchman.”
The name is popular in English at least partly because of Saint Francis of Assisi, “who was originally named Giovanni but was given the nickname Francesco by his father, an admirer of the French.”
In another source, years ago, I read that Saint Francis was given his nickname by his friends, because he liked French culture. Either way, the name is linked to France, without the connotation of honesty.