get down to brass tacks

Meaning

To start to discuss or consider the most important details or facts about something.

Synonyms

come down to brass tacks

come down to brass nails

get to

knuckle down

come down to

get down to brass nails

Translations

zur Sache kommen

Etymology

Uncertain. Earliest attestation is c. 1863 in the US, specifically Texas. One theory is that it comes from the brass tacks in the counter of a hardware store or draper’s shop used to measure cloth in precise units (rather than holding one end to the nose and stretching out the arm to approximately one yard). Another possibility is the 19th-century American practice of using brass tacks to spell out the initials of the deceased on the top of their coffin.