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• meat and potatoes
  meat and potatoes

  noun

  the essential or basic part.
• meat-and-potatoes
  meat-and-potatoes

  adjective

  fundamental; down-to-earth; basic.

meat and potatoes

¹ American  

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. the essential or basic part.

   Community service is the meat and potatoes of this program.

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meat-and-potatoes ² American  

[meet-n-puh-tey-tohz, -tuhz] / ˈmit n pəˈteɪ toʊz, -təz /

Or meat-and-potato

adjective

Informal.

1. fundamental; down-to-earth; basic.

   What are the meat-and-potatoes issues of the election?

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meat and potatoes Idioms  

1. The fundamental part or parts of something, as in This paragraph is the meat and potatoes of the contract. This metaphoric term transfers what some regard as basic fare to the basics of an issue. [Mid-1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of meat and potatoes¹

Probably earlier than 1950–55

Origin of meat-and-potatoes²

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meat and potatoes meat-and-potatoes

That was a change from some earlier, infamous Tesla earnings calls when he lost his temper and even berated “boring, bonehead” questions about the meat and potatoes of that company’s business.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

"She got the diet just right for Middle England - meat and potatoes, all the greens in the right place. And sponge pudding to follow. It's comfortable and regular. Sometimes you'll even enjoy it."

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025

I’d like to move on to a few questions about sort of the meat and potatoes issues that you touched on earlier.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2025

He would ask the hard questions and just get into the real meat and potatoes of what a person is.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2023

She brings Enrique a bowl of hot broth, filled with bits of meat and potatoes.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Nor has she spent much time editing reporters who do that kind of meat-and-potatoes journalism.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

Other meat-and-potatoes fixes—like roofing, electrical systems and plumbing—are also among the biggest expenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025

His background - a teacher, a football coach, an Army National Guard enlisted soldier - broadcasts "meat-and-potatoes middle America", as does perhaps his balding, rotund, slightly dishevelled appearance.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024

He’s accomplished this not with virtuosic musical innovation, genre-crossing celebrity collaborations or by hosting a television singing competition, but by cranking out one irrepressibly catchy, widely relatable meat-and-potatoes country anthem after another.

From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2022

“I’m a meat-and-potatoes man, myself,” he explained to Theodora.

From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson