meat and potatoes

¹

noun

, (used with a singular or plural verb)

1. the essential or basic part:

   Community service is the meat and potatoes of this program.

meat-and-potatoes

²

or meat-and-po·ta·to

[ meet-n-puh-tey-tohz, -tuhz ]

adjective

, Informal.

1. fundamental; down-to-earth; basic:

   What are the meat-and-potatoes issues of the election?

Word History and Origins

Origin of meat and potatoes¹

Probably earlier than 1950–55

Origin of meat and potatoes²

First recorded in 1945–50

Idioms and Phrases

The fundamental part or parts of something, as in This paragraph is the meat and potatoes of the contract . This metaphoric term transfers what some regard as basic fare to the basics of an issue. [Mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

How is writing for “Matlock,” a meat and potatoes procedural, the same or different as writing for “Jane the Virgin,” which leaned on magical surrealism?

From Los Angeles Times

Her husband, she said, was a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy who adapted to her vegetarian diet and learned to cook Indian food for her mother.

From Los Angeles Times

She called her husband a “meat and potatoes” man, but - in an apparent sign of his devotion - said he now cooked her Indian vegetarian food.

From BBC

There’s the satisfying meat and potatoes of exploration at Castle Ensis, with vertiginous balustrades and winding ramparts that cross over and under themselves in impossible architectural configurations.

From New York Times

With Letterman at CBS competing directly with Leno at NBC, two strains of late night were defined: the former’s forward-looking, oddball approach; the latter’s more controlled, old-fashioned meat and potatoes comedy.

From Los Angeles Times