What does the saying brass tacks mean?
Definition of get down to brass tacks informal. : to start to discuss or consider the most important details or facts about something We finally got down to brass tacks and decided to work out a schedule for the project.
Where did getting down to brass tacks originate?
Earliest attestation in 1863 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).
Is brass Tacks cockney rhyming slang?
One other intriguing theory, however, suggests that “brass tacks” is actually Cockney rhyming slang. Rhyming slang, originally a “secret language” of the London criminal underworld, uses unrelated words and phrases (“trouble and strife”) to stand in for the word actually meant (in this classic example, “wife”).
Why is dying referred to as kicking the bucket?
The term is known to date from at least the 16th century. The more interesting (and probably apochryphal) origin relates to suicides who would stand on a large bucket with noose around the neck and, at the moment of their choosing, would kick away the bucket.
Is get down to brass tacks an idiom?
“Get down to brass tacks” is an idiomatic expression, like a dime a dozen, meaning “to start discussing or considering important details.” For example: We’ll get down to brass tacks and complete the research method tomorrow.
What is a brass in Cockney?
Brass is Cockney slang for Prostitute.
Where does the expression bite the dust come from?
Origin. This expression was popularized in movies about the old west or ‘Westerns,’ where cowboys or Indians were shot or were thrown from their horse to land on the dusty ground thus “biting” the dust. The phrase was seen as early as 1750, however, in Tobias Smollett’s Gil Blass: “We made two of them bite the dust.” 3.
Is brass Tacks Cockney rhyming slang?
Where does the term brasses come from?
From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), origin uncertain. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”).
Why is it called Dressed to the nines?
So in the end, “dressed to the nines” is most likely simply an offshoot of the previous “to the nines” expression, more or less meaning “perfect” or “to perfection.” Where “to the nines” came from exactly is a bit of a mystery. The “Nine Muses” origin theory seems to have the strongest case.