Why "brass tacks" means the basic facts?

Question

Why "brass tacks" means the basic facts?

Answer 1

I once read that brass tacks were placed on the counter, one yeard apart, in stores where cloth was sold, in order to make measuring easier. An old trick was to hold one end of the cloth a little bit up in the air so that the customer would get less than one yard of cloth, thus saving the store a little bit of money. Customers are alleged to have said,"Just get down to brass tacks!"
This does not sound very believable to me.

Answer 2

The phrase get down to brass tacks is of uncertain etymology. No one knows why it was originally coined, but there are several explanations. What we do know is that the phrase dates to at least the 1890s and that it is American in origin. Beyond that, there is only speculation.

The earliest known citation is from an 1895 letter by Frederick Remington:

How little I know . . . when you get down to brass-tacks.
The most likely explanation is that brass tacks is rhyming slang for facts. This, however, is complicated by the variant brass nails, which dates to at least 1911. The variant doesn't fit the rhyming slang, but then it may have been an alteration by someone who didn't understand the rhyming slang.

Another explanation is that stores used to mark out a yard on the counter with brass tacks so that customers buying cloth could measure it by getting down to brass tacks and ensure they weren't being cheated.

Yet another is that brass tacks were used as a foundation for upholstery. So getting down to brass tacks meant getting down to basics.

(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition; Historical Dictionary of American Slang; New Partridge Dictionary of Slang)

Answer 3

Stemming from a furniture reference, likely. When you remove the upholstery, stuffing and undercovering on a chair or other piece of furniture you will see plain wood and what's holding it togther, ie: Brass tacks.

So getting down to brass tacks can mean pulling all the superficial outer layers and examining the basic structure of something.

Answer 4

In upholstery (furniture padding), brass tacks are used to tack the material in place and are hidden (usually) underneath and in folds of cloths. To "get down to brass tacks" means to pull away all the covering cloth (obfuscations) and get to the basic truths at the bottom of it all.
Cheers.

Answer 5

I believe in God and death. God teaches that we will all die in if you want to call it, the scientific meaning of the word(death has been around before science and religion were founded). However I also believe that we have a spirit that lives on. And I don't just say I have a spirit because I'd like to believe it.

Answer 6

The etymology of the expression likely has roots in the way fabric manufacturers used to mark out a yard in tacks on the counter (suggesting precision) so customers could buy their fabric accordingly.

Answer 7

It's somewhat-rhyming slang.
Tacks (sort of) rhymes with "facts".

However, I've never seen or heard it my entire life, so I don't think you have to fret about it too much.

Answer 8

Because it rhymes. Example, Mother Shucker means nevermind.