nitty-gritty

Uncertain, said to have been used at first by black jazz musicians, perhaps ultimately from reduplication nit and grits (finely ground corn), from Old English grytt, grytta (“coarse meal”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌnɪtiˈɡrɪti/

• Audio (US)

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nitty-gritty (uncountable)

1. (colloquial) The essence or core of something; the details.

   He gave a short summary without getting into the nitty-gritty of the problem.

• brass tacks
• details
• nuts and bolts
• See also Thesaurus:gist

• nitty

• “nitty-gritty” (US) / “nitty-gritty” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.