brass (redirected from Horse brass)

as bold as brass

with too much confidence. He walked up to me bold as brass and asked if I had any spare change.

be cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey (British, very informal!)

brass monkey weather - extremely cold weather. We were in Moscow, and it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

See also: ball, cold, enough, freeze, monkey

brass monkey weather (British, very informal)

extremely cold weather. It's brass monkey weather today, isn't it!

See also: monkey, weather

the brass ring (American)

success or a reward that you try to achieve, often by competing against other people. Our aim is to have the best team in the league - the brass ring is there guys, go and get it.

See also: ring

get down to brass tacks

to start talking about the most important or basic facts of a situation. Let's get down to brass tacks. Who's paying for all of this?

See also: down, tack

have the brass (neck) to do something (British, informal, American & Australian, very informal!)

to have the confidence to do something that is rude or shows a lack of respect, without caring whether people approve. How does she have the brass to ask for a day off during our busiest period? He had the brass balls to announce his engagement to Sally in front of his ex-wife.

the top brass

the people with the highest rank in an organization, especially an army. All the top brass turned out for the funeral.

See also: top

Where there's muck, there's brass. (British)

something that you say which means you can make a lot of money from work that most people do not want to do because they think it is dirty or unpleasant. Decorating's a messy job, but where there's muck, there's brass.

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get down to brass tacks

to start talking about the basic facts of a situation. Let's get down to brass tacks — who's going to pay for all of this?

See also: down, tack