the long and short

• the long and the short

the long and short

1. (usually followed by of) The gist; the essence or substance; the most important or salient features.

   The speech went on for hours, but the long and short of it is that not much has changed since last year.

   • 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Omega:

     Shepard: What's your relationship with Cerberus?
     Zaeed: Easy. Cerberus is paying me a lot of money to help you on your mission. That's the long and short.

   • 2024 May 1, Philip Haigh, “Network News: Pathing issues see NR ditch ECML December timetable”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 7:

     NR explained: "The long and short of it is that there is too much concern that the timetable wouldn't work in practice.

• digest, summary, upshot

• in a nutshell
• long story short