Grasp The Nettle Meaning

(idiomatic) To act boldly, especially when there are short-term adverse consequences.

Example: 1886, "London's Recent Rioting," New York Times, 22 Feb., p. 5 (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
  Hence it was that a few dozen policemen, resolutely grasping the nettle, had no difficulty in handling it.
1951, "From Today's Times," Ottawa Citizen (Canada), 30 April, p. 2 (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
  President Truman, when at last he grasped the nettle and dismissed MacArthur, knew well enough the outcry that would follow.
2007, "Brown's Britain: taking the nuclear option," telegraph.co.uk, 24 May (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
  That Tony Blair should wait until the dying days of his premiership before grasping the nettle of nuclear expansion has proved dangerously neglectful.