get down to business
Begin serious effort
To get down to business is to stop preliminary activity and begin serious work: Enough small talk—let's get down to business.
The phrase marks a transition from socializing, deliberating, or preparing to actually doing the thing at hand.
- throw oneself intoEngage wholeheartedly
- cut to the chaseSkip to essentials
- get down to brass tacksBegin addressing essential details
- no nonsenseSerious and efficient
- concentrateReduced, potent form
get to the point · let's do this · prioritize · initiate · focus · commence · determination · tackle · accomplish · clarity · buckle down · nose to the grindstone · undertake · readiness · engage · proceed · resolve · commit
get down to businesswaste time
Use moments unproductively
goof off · fool around · kill time · mess around · dilly-dally
get down to businesschat
Informal verbal exchange
beat around the bush · shoot the breeze · warm up · break the ice · schmooze
get down to businessprocrastinate
Delay action unnecessarily
drag one's feet · put off · stall · delay · shirk
getting, downer, downs, downed, downing, business, businesses, busily, busyness