get down to brass tacks
Focus on fundamentals
To get down to brass tacks is to move past preliminaries and address the essential, practical matters: Enough small talk—let's get down to brass tacks.
The phrase suggests cutting through pleasantries or abstractions to focus on concrete details, specifics, or the real business at hand.
- nitty-grittyEssential practical details
- get down to businessBegin focused work
- nuts and boltsEssential practical details
- cut to the chaseSkip to essentials
- bottom lineEssential point or conclusion
essentials · real deal · spell out · fundamentals · drill down · get serious · hit the nail on the head · no-nonsense · get down to bedrock · zero in · get to the point · bluntness · straightforwardness · lay it on the line · candor · cut the crap · priorities · focus
get down to brass tacksbeat around the bush
Avoid stating directly
skirt the issue · talk in circles · mince words · hem and haw · shoot the breeze
get down to brass tacksdodge the question
stall · delay · procrastinate · obfuscate · stonewall
get down to brass tacksprocrastinate
Delay action unnecessarily
stall · delay · dilly-dally · dawdle · drag one's feet
getting, downer, downs, downed, downing, brass, brasses, brassy, tacks