When you use the expression ‘Get Down to Brass Tacks’ you mean you are clearing away
excess and getting to basic realities or facts.
Example of use: “Let’s get down to brass tacks. I’m sick of you taking advantage of me!”
The origin of the expression ‘get down to brass tacks’ can be found in mid-1800s America. One of the earliest uses of the phrase in print comes from a January 1863 edition of the Texas newspaper The Tri-Weekly Telegraph: “When you come down to brass tacks – if we may be allowed the expression – everybody is governed by selfishness.”