long story short
- 1Used to introduce a condensed version of a story, or simply its conclusion, with the intervening details omitted.
She spent months negotiating with the landlord; long story short, they never signed the lease.
Long story short, the merger fell through and both companies walked away with nothing.
Note
A clipped survivor of two fuller idioms, to make a long story short and to cut a long story short. Spandau Ballet's 1981 song still sings the full version. The short form works as a sentence adverb: it is set off by commas and often follows so or anyway (So anyway, long story short…). It promises the outcome next, so what follows should be the punchline, not more backstory.
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Origin
This is a shortened form of the phrases "to cut a long story short" and "to make a long story short."