[Ads-l] "to come right down to the brass" 1858

[Dan Goncharoff]

When I hear 'brass', I think 'boats', because brass does not rust, and is a
commonly used metal on boats. I find it interesting that you have antedated
the Texas quote with a usage in Rockford on the Rock River -- perhaps the
phrase "down to the brass" refers to removing paint and getting down to the
bare metal. On boats, you have to get down to the brass to see whether the
metal has corroded or not.

Boat builders still use brass tacks today:
http://www.dbgurney.com/product.php?productid=18170



DanG

On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 10:30 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "to come right down to the brass" 1858
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here are two more examples of "down to the brass" without tacks.
>
> Date: Tuesday, May 29, 1860
> Newspaper: Rock River Democrat
> Location: Rockford, Illinois
> Database: GenealogyBank
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "DOWN TO THE BRASS."--Come right "down to the brass," and this
> Squatter Sovereignty is a curious and delicate thing--so delicate that
> when brought to the brass it is dashed to atoms like the delicate
> porcelain.
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Year: 1867
> Title: You and Me: Or, Sketches for Both of Us ...
> Author: Nans Patrick Le Connor (Jacob L. Bowman)
> Publisher: G. Knapp & Company, Printers and Binders, St Louis, Mo.
> Database: Google Books Full View
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=e8YvAQAAMAAJ&q=%22the+brass%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> So to speak. To come right down to the brass of the matter, though,
> and talk good old sound, substantial machine sense, (however
> disagreeable it may be to me to go back on poetry,) I've struck a good
> thing and made a pile (no allusion to our M.C.)
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: "to come right down to the brass" 1858
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society ... on behalf of Stephen Goranson
> <goranson@=
> > DUKE.EDU>
> > Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 9:29 AM
> > Another early, US, political "down to the brass":
> > 03-05-1861 Plain Dealer , Cleveland OH p. 3, col. 1 [Am. Hist. Newsp.]
> "Jo =
> > Bows on the Presidents [and the qualities of their parents]":
> > "....If Jo Bows came down to the brass he would say, they, were more
> so."=20
> >
> > SG
> >
> >
> >
> > To: ...
> > Subject: [ADS-L] "to come right down to the brass" 1858
> >
> > "Mr H H GRAY said, we have talked all around the question, and he
> thought i=
> > t was time to come right down to the brass."
> >
> > Transcript [accurate?] of a session on Wed. am, Jan. 27, 1858.
> >
> > Headline: [No Headline]; Article Type: Legislative Acts/Legal Proceedings
> > Paper: Weekly Wisconsin Patriot, published as The Weekly Wisconsin
> Patriot;=
> >  Date: 01-30-1858; Volume: 4; Issue: 35; Page: [2] col. 4  Location:
> Madiso=
> > n, Wisconsin
> >
> >
> > Stephen Goranson
> >
> > http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
> >
> >
> > PS The earliest reported use of "down to brass tacks" is Jan. 1863.
> >
> > PPS [Other early uses are legislative, too.]
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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