It's this!
Meaning
To make short work of - to give little consideration to.
Origin
Shrift? Not a word you hear every day. In fact, apart from in this expression, it is now so rarely used that it's hard to think of a shrift that isn't short. The verb form, shrive, is also now an almost forgotten antique. A shrift is a penance (a prescribed penalty) imposed by a priest in a confession in order to provide absolution, often when the confessor was near to death. In the 17th century, criminals were sent to the scaffold immediately after sentencing and only had time for a 'short shrift' before being hanged.
Shakespeare was the first to write it down, in Richard III, 1594.
RATCLIFF:
Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner:
Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head.
It doesn't appear again in print until 1814, Scott's Lord of the Isles:
"Short were his shrift in that debate. If Lorn encounter'd Bruce!"
That seems an uncommonly long time to wait for a phrase that is in regular use. We can assume that, given the gap, the phrase wasn't part of the language in Shakespeare's day, or for some time afterwards, and that he coined it himself. Some sources cite it as '14th century', but neglect to offer any evidence to support that.
It didn't migrate across the Atlantic quickly either. The first citation there is from the Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, August 1841:
"The negroes were to be tried on Wednesday, and it was believed that a short shrift and a speedy doom would be awarded to the guilty."
Posted By: Bravo win or die on January 3rd 2011 at 17:45:58
Message Thread
- Who was that fucking idiot? (n/m) (NCFC) - Brandonio, Jan 3, 17:37:59
- he sounded confused (n/m) (NCFC) - LowestoftBoy, Jan 3, 17:39:29
- Nail gave him short shrift in the end (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Jan 3, 17:39:50
- yes, he applied the coup de grace quickly thankfully (n/m) (NCFC) - Worzel Scrimmage, Jan 3, 17:42:38
- What *is* shrift? And why is it bad when short? (n/m) (NCFC) - Old Man, Jan 3, 17:41:02
- It's this! (NCFC) - Bravo win or die, Jan 3, 17:45:58
- Thank you! (n/m) (NCFC) - Old Man, Jan 3, 17:48:54
- Which means Nail gave it less than shrift! Interesting that, learn something new everyday! (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Jan 3, 17:47:24
- just a shame that he can't send them to a "speedy doom" (n/m) (NCFC) - Huge Small, Jan 3, 17:50:32
- A saying I suppose OM, I think I know what it means but not it's origins. (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Jan 3, 17:41:57
- It's this! (NCFC) - Bravo win or die, Jan 3, 17:45:58
- Nail gave him short shrift in the end (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Jan 3, 17:39:50
- he sounded confused (n/m) (NCFC) - LowestoftBoy, Jan 3, 17:39:29
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