as bold as brass
as bold as brass
Meaning
- daring, brave, bold or overconfident
- audacious, impudent or shameless
The idiom “bold as brass” is generally used to describe a person who shows a high degree of confidence, courage, or is very straightforward.
Example Sentences
- I was nervous about approaching the recording artist, but my friend Jane went to him, as bold as brass, and requested a group photo.
- Alex marched to the podium, as bold as brass, and delivered our finalist class farewell speech so well.
- Maria approached the headmistress, as bold as brass, and told her about the kind of bullying going on in school.
- She gave birth to a man who was as bold as brass.
- Joseph was as bold as brass and didn’t know the meaning of the word shy.
- She was not invited to the gathering, and yet she showed up there, as bold as brass.
Origin
The idiom has its origins in the 16th century. The idiom mentioned above is attributed to Brass Crosby, the Lord Mayor of London in the late 1700s. The Lord Mayor went against Parliament by backing the publication of a pamphlet about parliamentary proceedings. The idiom “as bold as brass” was first recorded shortly after Brass Cosby’s incident in George Parker’s publication in 1789, “Life’s Painter of Variegated Characters in Public and Private Life.“
However, other explanations go against the above explanation and state that the word “brass” was used to imply boldness for no less than forty years before the lord mayor’s occurrence. The idiom “bold as brass” reached its highest point of popularity in the early 18th century.
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