ANSWERS: 3
  • Brass tacks is an object used in the popular expression "get down to brass tacks". The expression usually means clearing out confusing details and finding out the real facts about something. The etymology of the expression is unclear. It may have roots in the way fabric manufacturers used to mark out a yard in tacks on the counter so customers could buy their fabric accordingly. Another possibility is: In the 1860's the US government issued boots for soldiers that were constructed using brass tacks to hold the leather soles on to the bottoms of their boots. As the boots wore down, the tacks would protrude through the sole and in to the bottom of the soldier's feet. 'Brass tacks' could mean to get to the absolute bottom of things in reference to shoes. It is also argued that the idiom is derived from the "Brass Tax of 1854". The tax, put into place by the U.S. government, was received as a direct attack on Southern slave owners, who relied heavily on brass products for daily functions on the plantation. "Get down to brass tax" was initially used to mean "stoop to someone's level" or "deal a low blow" in reference to the South's interpreted "cheap shot" from the U.S. government. After the war, however, it took on new meaning in reference to the brass tacks in a soldier's shoes, as mentioned above. It is also noteworthy that the tax, in addition to creating revenue for the government, led to a sharp increase in the cost of many instruments. Tubas, trumpets, cornets, french horns, and other popular brass instruments gave way to flutes, piccolos, clarinets and oboes as the more affordable woodwind instruments' popularity skyrocketed. Evidence of this is most notable when examining Civil War marching music which relies heavily on the beating of percussion instruments and melodies from the woodwind family. Brass instruments are noticeably absent. The expression might also be rhyming slang for "facts." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_tacks
  • There are sundry theories: Wikipedia has a few:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_tacks. My favourite is that fabric sellers measured out hards of fabric between two brass tacks on their counter. When you got down to brass tacks, you were actually doing business.
  • To get down to the nitty gritty of something is to get to its basics. The origin here is somewhat unpleasant and a little unexpected. It seems to derive from the nits found in unclean pubic hair plus the tiny, gritty pieces of dried faeces found in unwashed peri-anal hair. The Dictionary of Popular Phrases says: "Let's get down to the (real) nitty-gritty". Idiom. Meaning, 'let's get down to the real basics of a problem or situation' (like getting down to brass tacks). Sheilah Graham, the Hollywood columnist, in her book ?Scratch an Actor? (1969) says of Steve McQueen: 'Without a formal education - Steve left school when he was fifteen - he has invented his own vocabulary to express what he means. His "Let's get down to the nitty-gritty" has gone into the American language.' All she meant, I feel, is that McQueen popularized the term, for it is generally held to be a Negro phrase and was talked about before the film star came on the scene. It seems to have had a particular vogue among Black Power campaigners c1963, and the first OED Supp. citation is from that year. In 1963, Shirley Ellis recorded a song 'The Nitty Gritty' to launch a new dance (like 'The Locomotion' before it). The opening line of the record is, 'Now let's get down to the real nitty-gritty'. Stuart Berg Flexner (Listening to America, 1982) comments: 'It may have originally referred to the grit-like nits or small lice that are hard to get out of one's hair or scalp or to a Black English term for the anus.' http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/22/messages/522.html (idiomatic) Deal with the important details. 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? - Scene from Pulp Fiction http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_down_to_brass_tacks http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=get+down+to+brass+tacks&r=66 Also, 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. http://www.answers.com/get%20down%20to%20brass%20tacks

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