down to brass tacks (1867)
Fred Shapiro
fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
Tue Nov 7 21:19:20 UTC 2006
On Tue, 7 Nov 2006, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> 1867 _Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier_ 12 Jan. 2[?]/3 The
> Galveston Bulletin says that Texas must "come down to brass tacks" and
> accept the constitutional amendment, unless the people wish Congress
> to proceed with reconstruction.
Here's earlier:
1863 _Tri-Weekly Telegraph_ (Houston) 21 Jan. 2/1 (America's Historical
Newspapers) When you come down to "brass tacks" -- if we may be allowed
the expression -- everybody is governed by selfishness.
Fred Shapiro
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Access and Lecturer in Legal Research Yale University Press
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