Englishthe long and short of it
Meaning: The outcome; the point.
Example: “The long and short of it is that we need a new roof.”
Origin: Originally ran the opposite way around: "the short and long of it" is the older form, dating to around 1500, and Shakespeare favored exactly this version, using it in both Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor. The words swapped into their now-standard order by the end of the 1600s. Pairing two literal opposites — long and short — to mean the complete substance or gist of a matter is a natural way of claiming totality: covering both extremes of a scale implies covering everything in between as well, making the phrase a compact way of promising the whole essential story rather than a partial or one-sided version of it.
More English idioms
- look like death warmed over To look/feel ill or exhausted.
- make ends meet To manage financially; to have enough money for one's basic needs.
- make heads or tails of something To understand something.
- make or break To be the deciding factor in whether something succeeds or fails.
- make something from scratch To make something by putting together the separate basic components, rather than using a…
- make the grade To meet standards; to be satisfactory.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- La farina del diavolo va tutta in crusca Wealth gained dishonestly brings no lasting benefit.
- Ne uccide più la lingua che la spada Words can do more harm than weapons.
- Chi va piano va sano e va lontano Taking your time is the surest way to get where you're going.
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