"the long and short" meaning in English

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "the long and short",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English positive polarity items",
          "parents": [
            "Positive polarity items",
            "Terms by semantic function"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The speech went on for hours, but the long and short of it is that not much has changed since last year."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Omega",
          "text": "Shepard: What's your relationship with Cerberus?\nZaeed: Easy. Cerberus is paying me a lot of money to help you on your mission. That's the long and short.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The gist; the essence or substance; the most important or salient features."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_long_and_short-en-noun-Nsfm~cf8",
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of"
        ],
        [
          "gist",
          "gist"
        ],
        [
          "essence",
          "essence"
        ],
        [
          "substance",
          "substance"
        ],
        [
          "important",
          "important"
        ],
        [
          "salient",
          "salient"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually followed by of) The gist; the essence or substance; the most important or salient features."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "followed by of"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "in a nutshell"
        },
        {
          "word": "long story short"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "digest"
        },
        {
          "word": "summary"
        },
        {
          "word": "upshot"
        },
        {
          "word": "the long and the short"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "usually"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "samaja sutʹ",
          "sense": "gist",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "самая суть"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "the long and short"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "the long and short",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "in a nutshell"
    },
    {
      "word": "long story short"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English coordinated pairs",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English positive polarity items",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The speech went on for hours, but the long and short of it is that not much has changed since last year."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Omega",
          "text": "Shepard: What's your relationship with Cerberus?\nZaeed: Easy. Cerberus is paying me a lot of money to help you on your mission. That's the long and short.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The gist; the essence or substance; the most important or salient features."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of"
        ],
        [
          "gist",
          "gist"
        ],
        [
          "essence",
          "essence"
        ],
        [
          "substance",
          "substance"
        ],
        [
          "important",
          "important"
        ],
        [
          "salient",
          "salient"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually followed by of) The gist; the essence or substance; the most important or salient features."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "followed by of"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "digest"
    },
    {
      "word": "summary"
    },
    {
      "word": "upshot"
    },
    {
      "word": "the long and the short"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "samaja sutʹ",
      "sense": "gist",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "самая суть"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the long and short"
}