Meaning of the long and short | Babel Free

Definitions

The gist; the essence or substance; the most important or salient features.

usually

Equivalents

Examples

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

“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.”

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

CEFR level