Dictionary

get down to brass tacks en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ɡɛt ˈdaʊn tə bɹæs ˈtæks/ (General-American)
• /ɡɛt ˈdaʊn tə bɹɑːs ˈtæks/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. It is probably a variant of the earlier term down to the brass (see, for example, the 1854 quotation), and the following etymologies have been suggested: * The term refers to the brass tacks used in upholstery which have to be removed when a piece of furniture is reupholstered, or brass tacks stuck into the counter of a draper’s shop or hardware store to measure items precisely in yards. * Another possibility is that the brass tacks are nails used to seal coffin lids, or tacks used to decorate or indicate a deceased person’s initials on such lids, and thus the term refers to dealing with matters as serious as death.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something.
   • But I called here with a purpose. I expect you are a busy man and I know that I am, so I'll get down to the brass tacks. 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Which Describes Some Strange Doings in Hammersmith”, in The Land of Mist, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published 1926, →OCLC, page 48:
   • That's all the facts when you come to brass tacks: Birth, and copulation, and death. [1932, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “[Unfinished Poems.] Sweeney Agonistes: Fragment of an Agon.”, in Collected Poems 1909–1935, London: Faber & Faber […], published September 1954, →OCLC, page 127:
   • We're gonna have all the gas and oil we need! We're gonna stop playing games with these Arabs and get down to brass tacks! Ain't gonna be no old people in New Hampsire turned into Popsicles this coming winter like there was last winter! 1979, Stephen King, The Dead Zone, London: Futura Publications, published 1987, →ISBN, page 337:
   • [W]hen the conversation gets down to brass tacks it generally stays there, for there is no more to be said. In the region of brass tacks there are no irrelevancies or charming side-issues, and without these, of course, there is no conversation, everyone feels uncomfortable, and the guests who have come from Hampstead begin to murmur that it is time they were going home. 1927 March 2, “Brass Tacks”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume CLXXII, London: […] [Punch] office, […], →OCLC, page 228, column 2:
   • In every phase of life we have been getting down to brass tacks these days; even Christmas is at last reduced to statistics. The cry for facts and realism has brought the electricity-minded to the point of computing Christmas in terms of lamps as used for indoor and outdoor trees, wreaths, candles and other Yuletide decorations over the entire United States. 1933 December 23, Sarah Comstock, “Ninety Million Lamps for Christmas Trees: Holiday Lighting Grows Apace, with the Tremendous Increase in the Use of Outdoor Trees Adding a New Factor”, in The Literary Digest, volume 116, number 26 (number 2279 overall), New York, N.Y.: Funk & Wagnalls Company, […], →OCLC, page 28, column 1:
   • You must be Jules, which would make you Vincent. Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking. Is that right, Jimmie? 1994 May 21, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel), Los Angeles, Calif.: Miramax Films, →OCLC:
   • And if the government got a grip, got down to brass tacks and started doing their actual job, all these things could be avoided. 2023 April 2, Pippa Crerar, Robyn Vinter, quoting Lisa Nandy, “Suella Braverman denies Brexit to blame for Dover queues of 14 hours”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2024:
   • When you come down to brass tacks—if we may be allowed the expression—everybody is governed by selfishness. [1863 January 21, Edward Hopkins Cushing, editor, The Tri-weekly Telegraph, Houston, Tex.: Allen & Brockett, →OCLC:
   • He did not wish to delay action, but was ready to vote instanter.—A reference now would amount to a defeat of the memorial. It was better to come right down to the brass and vote. [1854 April 1, “Legislative matters. […] Log-rolling of a land grant memorial through the Assembly”, in Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, volume X (New Series), number 2939, Milwaukee, Wis.: Rufus King & Co., →OCLC, page 2, column 2:
   • joe: I'd get another job if I could. There's no work—you know it. / […] / edna: Who's the man in the family, you or me? / joe: That's no answer. Get down to brass tacks. Christ, gimme a break, too! A coffee cake and java all day. I'm hungry, too, Babe. I'd work my fingers to the bone if— […] 1935, Clifford Odets, “Waiting for Lefty”, in Waiting for Lefty and Till the Day I Die: Two Plays, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →OCLC, episode 1 (Joe and Edna), page 10:
   • It would have been just as well for you to have gotten down to "brass tacks," in some of the statements you have been making about the bill instead of getting "down to brass tacks" now, if you leave it to me. 1920 February 24, Sydney Anderson, “Statement of Mr. C. W. Swayze, Denver, Colo.”, in Meat-packer Legislation: Hearings before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Sixty-sixth Congress, Second Session on Meat-packer Legislation […] Part 1, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 1366:

Forms

Synonyms

get down to nuts and bolts · get right down to cases · roll up one's sleeves · get down to business · get right into it · get down to the nitty-gritty · break down to brass tacks · drill down · get down to bedrock · cut to the chase · get down to cases · get down to brass nails

Translations (23)

pl przechodzić do rzeczy (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · de zur Sache kommen (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · ru переходить к сути дела (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · fi käydä asiaan (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · es ir al grano (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · uk перейти до суті (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · is kjarni málsins (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · fr passer aux choses sérieuses (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · is staðreyndirnar (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · it venire al dunque (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · no ta tyren ved hornene (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · it entrare nei dettagli (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · it darsi una mossa (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · it rimboccarsi le maniche (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · nl ter zake komen (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · is þau atriði sem máli skipta (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · it venire al sodo (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · fi mennä asiaan (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · it darsi da fare (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · uk перейти до справи (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · sv komma till saken (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · pl przejść do rzeczy (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something) · is koma sér að efninu (to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something)