Nitty-gritty (1947, 1948)

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

> _Richmond Afro American_ (Richmond VA), 25 Oct. 1947: p. 4(?):
> <<As an educator, he displayed nothing more than a set of vague ideas about
> education and democracy which only became more nebulous the closer he got
> to the nitty-gritty of actually putting them into practice.>>

Here's earlier:

nitty-gritty (OED 1952)

1942 _Phylon_ III. 338  The real "nitty gritty" is a poem in the "Lenox
Avenue" section called "Shakespeare in Harlem."

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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