🗓️ Idiom: Get Down to Brass Tacks (v)
💬 Meaning
- To start discussing the most important or basic facts.
- To focus on the main details and not waste time.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Let’s get down to brass tacks and talk about the budget.
- After some small talk, they got down to brass tacks and negotiated the deal.
- We need to stop talking around the problem and get down to brass tacks.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom likely comes from 1800s America. In stores that sold fabric, people used brass tacks on the counter to measure cloth. “Getting down to brass tacks” meant getting to the real measurement — or the most important part.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
We’ve talked enough now. It’s time to __________ and make a decision.
Answer
get down to brass tacks
2. Choose the correct meaning of “get down to brass tacks”:
A) To avoid details
B) To focus on the main details
C) To decorate a report
Answer
B) To focus on the main details
3. Rewrite the sentence using Get down to Brass tacks”:
“Let’s talk about the details.”
Answer
Let’s get down to brass tacks.
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