to cut a long story short
/tə ˌkʌt ə ˌlɒŋ ˈstɔːri ˈʃɔːt/INFORMAL · B2
Meaning
used to give only the main point of what happened
Examples
- 1The car broke down twice and, to cut a long story short, we arrived a day late.
- 2There were lots of problems with the tickets, but to cut a long story short, we got in.
- 3I won’t bore you with the details, but to cut a long story short, I got the job.
- 4There was a lot of shouting and paperwork, but, to cut a long story short, the shop gave us a refund.
- 5Mum had trouble with her old flat for months, so, to cut a long story short, she’s moving in with us.
Grammar
A fixed phrase: nothing changes. It usually stands apart from the rest of the sentence, with a comma after it.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about communication
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →all earslistening eagerly and with full attentionhear something on the grapevineto learn news that people pass on informallyput in a good word forto praise someone to a person who can help themget a word in edgewaysto manage to speak while someone else keeps talkingfall on deaf earsto be ignored by the people who are told itkeep someone postedto tell someone the latest news as things change
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
Install on your phoneScan with your phone camera to download the app