get down to brass tacks

1. Get to the real issue; deal with the task at hand: “After avoiding the thorny question of tax reform for months, Congress finally got down to brass tacks last week and drafted a preliminary proposal.”

Idioms and Phrases

Also, get down to bedrock or the nitty gritty or cases . Deal with the essentials; come to the point. For example, Stop delaying and get down to brass tacks , or We really need to get down to bedrock , or He has a way of getting down to the nitty gritty , or Let's get down to cases . The origin of the first phrase, dating from the late 1800s, is disputed. Some believe it alludes to the brass tacks used under fine upholstery, others that it is Cockney rhyming slang for “hard facts,” and still others that it alludes to tacks hammered into a sales counter to indicate precise measuring points. The noun bedrock has signified the hard rock underlying alluvial mineral deposits since about 1850 and has been used figuratively to denote “bottom” since the 1860s. The noun nitty-gritty dates from the mid-1900s and alludes to the detailed (“nitty”) and possibly unpleasant (“gritty”) issue in question. The noun cases apparently alludes to the game of faro, in which the “case card” is the last of a rank of cards remaining in play; this usage dates from about 1900. Also see to the point .

Example Sentences

Key points of contention are expected to surface behind closed doors, however, as the two leaders get down to brass tacks on Mr. Biden’s seminal legislative accomplishment, what his Democrats in Congress dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act.

From Washington Times

This means that for all the misleading dog whistles we heard about critical race theory and the coddling of criminals — but also for all the uplifting rhetoric about historic firsts we heard from Senator Cory Booker and others — this appointment might not matter very much, when we get down to brass tacks.

From New York Times

"It's almost inevitable that the splintering will happen when you get down to brass tacks about what good parenting really looks like."

From Salon

“Roger, let’s get down to brass tacks. Trump told you he‘s going to run,” Mr. Jones said.

From Washington Times

But then we get down to brass tacks and the trailer... pretty much tells you the movie’s entire plot, as my colleague Chaim Gartenberg noted in a first look.

From The Verge

Related Words

• analyze
• delineate
• depict
• describe
• enumerate
• lay out
• portray
• recount
• relate
• reveal
• set forth
• spell out
• stipulate
• summarize
• tell
• uncover