the long and (the) short of itspokenRESULT used when you are telling someone the most important facts about something rather than all the details 长话短说,总而言之 The long and the short of it is that we missed the train. 长话短说吧,我们没有赶上火车。
the long and (the) short of it• There you are, the long and the short of it.• The long and short of it is that I had too much to drink and said something I shouldn't have.
→ the long and (the) short of it at long1(2)