Meaning
The essential point of a matter once the details are stripped away: the upshot, the gist, the net result. Typically introduces a blunt or deflating conclusion after a long account, in speech or informal writing. A conversational, slightly world-weary idiom; the summarising sense is unchanged from the older 'short and long' form that Shakespeare himself used. Informal and conversational; often introduces a blunt summary after somebody has endured a long-winded account. Regional use: General English (Shakespearean origin).
Origin
Not a Shakespeare coinage, despite frequent attribution. The OED, as reported by Grammarphobia, traces 'the short and (the) long' to the fifteenth century, first citing an anonymous poem written before 1500 ('thys ys the schorte and longe'). Shakespeare used only the older reversed order - Nym's line in The Merry Wives of Windsor, written in the late 1590s, runs 'He loves your wife; there's the short and the long' - plus cousin phrasings in Henry V ('that is the brief and the long') and All's Well That Ends Well. The modern order, 'the long and (the) short of', the OED dates to the seventeenth century, first citing John Taylor's 1622 pamphlet 'Sir Gregory Nonsence His Newes From No Place' ('here's the long and short ont'). Verdict: the expression family predates Shakespeare by about a century; he popularised the older form and never used the modern wording, which first appears decades after his death.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- long story short
- the long and short of it
- the short and the long of it
Usage Examples
- We argued about the contract for two hours, but the long and the short of it is that they refused to move on price.
- The long and short of it was that the festival lost money and the whole committee resigned.
- I'll give you the long and the short of it: the engine is fine, but the electrics need replacing.