long and the short of it (redirected from short and the long of it)

long and the short of it and short and the long of it

Fig. the most important point; the summary of the matter. Jill: Is there some reason that you've spent the last half hour complaining about Fred? Jane: The long and the short of it is, I hate working with him so much that I'm going to resign. Dad keeps saying that he can't spend the rest of his life in mourning for Mother. I finally asked him if he was thinking of getting married again. "That's the long and the short of it," he admitted.

See also: and, long, short