Dictionary

nitty-gritty en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌnɪtiˈɡɹɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈnɪtiˈɡɹɪti/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• [-ɾi-] (General-American)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; said to have been first used by black jazz musicians from the United States, the word is perhaps a reduplication of gritty (“resembling grit”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *greutą (“grit”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-) with alteration of the first syllable. An urban legend links the origin of the word to the debris remaining in the holds of slave ships after the slaves had been disembarked, but there is no evidence for this. The word is not attested early enough to have been associated with slavery.

Meanings

1. (colloquial) Dealing with something in great depth.
   • 1976, United States. National Commission on Arthritis and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases, Arthritis - Out of the Maze We deal with them at a very, very nitty gritty level, and we deal with the results of years and years of problems that they've had in the past.

Forms

wikipedia: Michael Quinion

nitty-gritty en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌnɪtiˈɡɹɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈnɪtiˈɡɹɪti/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• [-ɾi-] (General-American)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; said to have been first used by black jazz musicians from the United States, the word is perhaps a reduplication of gritty (“resembling grit”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *greutą (“grit”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-) with alteration of the first syllable. An urban legend links the origin of the word to the debris remaining in the holds of slave ships after the slaves had been disembarked, but there is no evidence for this. The word is not attested early enough to have been associated with slavery.

Meanings

1. (also, attributive, colloquial, uncountable) The core or essence of something; the gist.
   • He gave a short summary without getting into the nitty-gritty of the problem.

Forms

Deriveds

nitty

Synonyms

punctum saliens · marrow · nitty-gritty · nuts and bolts · heartstring · brass tacks · substance · soul · heartstrings · core · bowels · guts · gist · meat · spirit · moral of the story · nub · inwardness · brass tacks · heart · tenor · drift · nuts and bolts · quintessence · pith · stuff · heart and soul · gravamen · essence · kernel · crux · sum

Translations (15)

pl sedno (core or essence of something — see also gist) · fa اصول (core or essence of something — see also gist) · is grundvallar- (core or essence of something — see also gist) · sv pudelns kärna (core or essence of something — see also gist) · rsk сущносц (core or essence of something — see also gist) · tr konunun özü (core or essence of something — see also gist) · fi ydin (core or essence of something — see also gist) · is kjarni (core or essence of something — see also gist) · tr işin gerçek yüzü (core or essence of something — see also gist) · de Wesentliche (core or essence of something — see also gist) · es meollo (core or essence of something — see also gist) · tr asıl mesele (core or essence of something — see also gist) · lv kas lācītim vēderā (core or essence of something — see also gist) · is aðalatriði (core or essence of something — see also gist) · tr işin gerçek içyüzü (core or essence of something — see also gist)

wikipedia: Michael Quinion