| 释义 |
nitty-gritty slang (orig. U.S.).|ˌnɪtɪˈgrɪtɪ|
[Etym. unknown.]
The realities or basic facts of a problem, situation, subject, etc.; the heart of the matter. Also attrib. or as adj.
1963Time 2 Aug. 14/2 The Negroes present would know perfectly well that the nitty-gritty of a situation is the essentials of it. 1963Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Sept. 14/1 Says W. C. Patton, field secretary for..the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. ‘Now we're down to the nitty-gritty, the hard core who've never been interested in politics.’ 1967Freedomways vii. 186 All those ‘nitty gritty’ actions and styles which set Negroes off from the rest of American society. 1967N.Y. Times 27 June 20 He's not afraid to get down to the nitty-gritty of unpleasant problems. 1968Times 15 Nov. 17/2 To get down to what the American will call the ‘nitty-gritty’ of the matter—the heart, sir, the heart. 1969Listener 25 Sept. 420/2 The Animals were already into the nitty-gritty of blues history. 1973Computers & Humanities VII. 163 Most of the Harris work covers the nitty-gritty problems of subject analysis. 1974Financial Times 6 Mar. 36/2 Mr Wilson is expected to appoint a trade union MP or two as junior Ministers at the Department of Employment to make up for Mr Foot's lack of experience in the ‘nitty-gritty’ of trade union negotiations. 1975Publishers Weekly 13 Jan. 56/3 He still can startle the reader with his abrupt shifts from nitty-gritty reality to far-out fantasy. |