get down to brass tacks
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Reach the real matter in hand.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
‘ Since you've brought it up, let's get down to brass tacks!
Let's get down to brass tacks.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “get down to brass tacks” mean?
Reach the real matter in hand.
Is “get down to brass tacks” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.