From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe long and (the) short of itthe long and (the) short of itspokenRESULT used when you are telling someone the most important facts about something rather than all the details The long and the short of it is that we missed the train. → long
Examples from the Corpus
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. 