brass tacks vs tenor

brass tacks

tenor

adj
  • Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range. 

noun
  • Tone, as of a conversation. 

  • Stamp; character; nature. 

  • An exact copy of a writing, set forth in the words and figures of it. It differs from purport, which is only the substance or general import of the instrument. 

  • A tenor saxophone. 

  • A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range. 

  • The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed. 

  • A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto. 

  • The lowest tuned in a ring of bells. 

  • Time to maturity of a bond. 

  • That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding. 

How often have the words brass tacks and tenor occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )