long and short of it, the

1. The substance or gist of something, as in The first page of this report will give you the long and short of it. This expression, originally stated as the short and long of it, dates from about 1500, the present order being established by the end of the 1600s.

Example Sentences

“The long and short of it,” the court concluded, “is that once a state provides an avenue to ending the punishment of disenfranchisement—as the voters of Florida plainly did—it must do so consonant with the principles of equal protection.”

From Slate

Here’s the long and short of it: The study used Halo 3 to test whether skill and performance impacted frequency of negative comments toward both men and women.

From Forbes

That is the long and short of it,—the Emancipation Proclamation did not include them.

From Project Gutenberg