| 释义 |
get down to brass tacks
get down to brass tacksTo address the essential facts, or get down to serious business; from the brass tacks in the counter of a dry-goods store, where a piece of cloth would be laid when a price was being agreed.Translationsbrass (braːs) noun1. an alloy of copper and zinc. This plate is made of brass; (also adjective) a brass door-knocker. 黃銅 黄铜2. wind musical instruments which are made of brass or other metal. 銅管樂器 铜管乐器ˈbrassy adjective 黃銅色的，像銅管樂器聲的 似黄铜的brass band a band of players of (mainly) brass wind instruments. 銅管樂隊 铜管乐队brass neck shameless cheek or impudence. After breaking off the engagement she had the brass neck to keep the ring. 厚臉皮 厚脸皮get down to brass tacks to deal with basic principles or matters. Let's stop arguing about nothing and get down to brass tacks. 言歸正傳 谈要点，触及问题的核心 get down to brass tacks
get down to brass tacksTo focus on the most important aspects of a particular situation. Let's get down to brass tacks so that everyone has a good grasp on the project overall before we split up to do our separate parts. Don't get overwhelmed with this case, just get down to brass tacks.See also: brass, down, get, tackget down to brass tacksFig. to begin to talk about important things; to get down to business. Let's get down to brass tacks. We've wasted too much time chatting. Don't you think that it's about time to get down to brass tacks?See also: brass, down, get, tackget down to brass tacksAlso, get down to bedrock or the nitty gritty or cases . Deal with the essentials; come to the point. For example, Stop delaying and get down to brass tacks, or We really need to get down to bedrock, or He has a way of getting down to the nitty gritty, or Let's get down to cases. The origin of the first phrase, dating from the late 1800s, is disputed. Some believe it alludes to the brass tacks used under fine upholstery, others that it is Cockney rhyming slang for "hard facts," and still others that it alludes to tacks hammered into a sales counter to indicate precise measuring points. The noun bedrock has signified the hard rock underlying alluvial mineral deposits since about 1850 and has been used figuratively to denote "bottom" since the 1860s. The noun nitty-gritty dates from the mid-1900s and alludes to the detailed ("nitty") and possibly unpleasant ("gritty") issue in question. The noun cases apparently alludes to the game of faro, in which the "case card" is the last of a rank of cards remaining in play; this usage dates from about 1900. Also see to the point. See also: brass, down, get, tackget down to brass tacks If people get down to brass tacks, they begin to discuss the basic, most important aspects of a situation. To get down to brass tacks, what I want to know is, do you know anything at all about her mother's side of the family? Note: The usual explanation for this expression is that in Cockney rhyming slang `brass tacks' are facts. See also: brass, down, get, tackget (or come) down to brass tacks start to consider the essential facts or practical details; reach the real matter in hand. informal 1932 T. S. Eliot Sweeney Agonistes That's all the facts when you come to brass tacks: Birth, and copulation, and death. See also: brass, down, get, tackget down to brass ˈtacks (informal) begin to discuss and deal with the really important practical details: Let’s get down to brass tacks — how much will it all cost?See also: brass, down, get, tackget down to brass tacks, to/let'sTo arrive at the heart of the matter. Some think this late nineteenth-century term comes from Cockney rhyming slang for hard facts. Another possible and perhaps more likely source is the American general store, where a countertop was marked with brass tacks at one-yard intervals for measuring cloth, and “getting to brass tacks” meant measuring precisely. Still another theory is that in upholstered furniture, brass tacks were used to secure the undermost cloth, and to reupholster properly one had to strip the furniture to that layer. A mid-twentieth-century American synonym is to get down to the nitty-gritty, alluding to the detailed (nitty) and perhaps unpleasant (gritty) facts of the case. It was borrowed from black English, where it signified the anus and alluded to picking body lice (nits) from that body part. This association had been largely forgotten by the time the term was popularized by the 1964 hit song “The Nitty Gritty” by Shirley Ellis.See also: brass, down, getEncyclopediaSeebrassGet Down to Brass Tacks
Get Down to Brass TacksInformal; to discuss the essentials of the matter at hand. For example, shareholders discussing declining dividends may get down to brass tacks when they discuss why sales are lagging, rather than whether the CEO is being paid too much. |