Meanings
present singular third person gets down to brass tacks · participle present getting down to brass tacks · past got down to brass tacks · participle past gotten down to brass tacks · participle past got down to brass tacks
- idiomaticTo (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something.
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 1275 more examples
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 2When 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, →OCLCIt 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 1366But 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[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 2Synonyms: break down to brass tacks, cut to the chase, drill down, get down to bedrock, get down to brass nails, get down to business, get down to cases, get down to nuts and bolts
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something.
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch ter zake komen
- ter zake komento (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Finnish käydä asiaan, mennä asiaan
- käydä asiaanto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- mennä asiaanto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
French passer aux choses sérieuses
- passer aux choses sérieusesto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
German zur Sache kommen
- zur Sache kommento (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Icelandic kjarni málsins, koma sér að efninu
- kjarni málsinsto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- koma sér að efninuto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- staðreyndirnarto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- þau atriði sem máli skiptato (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Italian darsi da fare, darsi una mossa
- darsi da fareto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- darsi una mossato (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- entrare nei dettaglito (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- rimboccarsi le manicheto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- venire al dunqueto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- venire al sodoto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Norwegian ta tyren ved hornene
- ta tyren ved horneneto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Polish przechodzić do rzeczy, przejść do rzeczy
- przechodzić do rzeczyto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- przejść do rzeczyto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Russian переходить к сути дела
- переходить к сути дела (perexoditʹ k suti dela)to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Spanish ir al grano
- ir al granoto (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Swedish komma till saken
- komma till sakento (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Ukrainian перейти до справи, перейти до суті
- перейти до справи (perejty do spravy)to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
- перейти до суті (perejty do suti)to (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with get down to brass tacks
All rhymes →Cite this entry
get down to brass tacks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20down%20to%20brass%20tacks
“get down to brass tacks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20down%20to%20brass%20tacks. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get down to brass tacks,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20down%20to%20brass%20tacks.
Source: get down to brass tacks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.