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Glite Dictionary
to get down to the nitty-gritty

to get down to the nitty-gritty

2 6.6
To start dealing with the most important details
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : ir a lo esencial
  • Once all of the formalities were out of the way, we got down to the nitty-gritty of getting to know one another.

That's fine, but and when it gets down to the nitty gritty bodily autonomy, my guy, like her body, her pregnancy, her birth.

Examples

  • "You're so far behind with your progress payments; it's come time for us to get down to the nitty-gritty.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • It gets down to the nitty-gritty of who is the buyer and who's the seller.

    Blog text (2)

  • Now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty.

    Blog text (23)

  • You don't need to be a statistician to see that patients studied under this loose definition may have little in common when you get down to the nitty-gritty.

    Blog text (13)

  • MTV's Josh Wigler got down to the nitty-gritty— which characters will we see onscreen?

    Blog text (32)

  • Before we can make a decision, we need to get down to the nitty-gritty of the proposal.

  • Once the introductions are finished, let us get down to the nitty-gritty of the project details.

  • The team is ready to get down to the nitty-gritty and address the key issues affecting performance.

Synonyms

to get to the point
vsto get down to the nitty-gritty
  • Informal
126 3.1

Talk about the most important part without extra details

starts to deal with the essential facts rather than just stopping digressions
to get down to brass tacks
vsto get down to the nitty-gritty
  • Informal
3 7.4

Start talking about the most important details

emphasizes addressing core facts and problems rather than broader talk
to cut to the nitty-gritty
vsto get down to the nitty-gritty
  • Informal
7.4

Start talking about the most important details of a topic

focuses on beginning to deal with essentials rather than only discussing them
to get down to bedrock
vsto get down to the nitty-gritty
7.4

To deal with the most basic problems in a situation

is about starting with essential facts rather than deeper technical specifics
to drill into the detail
vsto get down to the nitty-gritty
6.3

To look closely at the small parts of a plan or report to understand it

focuses on starting with core facts rather than detailed in depth analysis

How Essential

to get down to the nitty-gritty
  • Informal
2 6.6
to focus on
∞ 2.0
to discuss
∞ 1.6

Surface Forms

get down to the nitty-gritty infinitive
got down to the nitty-gritty past
got down to the nitty-gritty past participle
getting down to the nitty-gritty present participle
gets down to the nitty-gritty third person singular

Morphology

get + down + to + the + nitty-gritty

The particle construction 'get down to' (to begin focusing on or dealing with something) is largely transparent to learners who know 'get' and 'down', but the noun 'nitty-gritty' is an idiomatic unit meaning the essential/core details and is not clearly derivable from 'nitty' + 'gritty'. Because part of the phrase is compositional while the key noun is idiomatic, a B1 learner would only partially infer the full meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom get down to the nitty-gritty comes from a picture of tiny dirty bits at the bottom: nitty (like 'nits', tiny bits) and gritty (small grains of sand or dirt). So, to get down to the nitty-gritty means 'to focus on the smallest, most important facts'.