give short shrift
to give little attention or sympathy to someone or something
TRANSLATION
(to give) short shrift = jmdn. kurz abfertigen, kurzen Prozess mit jmd. machen --- GOOGLE INDEX (to give) short shrift: approximately 1,300,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
It's hard to recall another occasion when a backbencher was given such SHORT SHRIFT by a Prime Minister.
(BBC News)
---
Hurricane Sandy victims given SHORT SHRIFT
(Atlanta Journal Constitution headline)
(BBC News)
---
Hurricane Sandy victims given SHORT SHRIFT
(Atlanta Journal Constitution headline)
Did you
know?
(to give) short shrift
idiom
- to treat someone or something without sympathy and with little attention
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
One of the first known appearances of the expression "short shrift" or "to give short shrift" is in Shakespeare’s Richard III in which Lord Hastings is condemned to be beheaded. Richard Ratcliffe says to Hastings, "Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head."
Shakespeare's use of shrift stems from the verb "shrive," the act of confessing to a priest which is followed by penance and absolution. Ratcliffe was in effect telling Hastings to quickly make peace with himself and God before losing his head.
Shrive is from the Latin scriptum (letters or writing), which is the origin of words like script and scripture (sacred writing). The German "Schrift, schreiben" and similar terms in other European languages also derive from scriptum. The sense of "confession and absolution" is still found in Shrove Tuesday (the past tense of shrive), the day before Ash Wednesday in the Christian religious calendar, which is traditionally an occasion of confession and absolution.
At some point schrive assumed the peculiar sense of dictating a penalty in Old English. Perhaps this had something to do with issuing a written decree when a penalty was imposed. This eventually led to the religious context that Shakespeare used and then the modern usage of curtly dismissing someone or something without caring, or seeming to care.
This expression is generally articulated in the phrases "give short shrift to" and "make short shrift of":
- The court gave short shrift to the defendant's testimony.
- The Court made short shrift of the plaintiff's arguments.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The boss gave short shrift to our proposal for a 4-day working week."
idiom
- to treat someone or something without sympathy and with little attention
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
One of the first known appearances of the expression "short shrift" or "to give short shrift" is in Shakespeare’s Richard III in which Lord Hastings is condemned to be beheaded. Richard Ratcliffe says to Hastings, "Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head."
Shakespeare's use of shrift stems from the verb "shrive," the act of confessing to a priest which is followed by penance and absolution. Ratcliffe was in effect telling Hastings to quickly make peace with himself and God before losing his head.
Shrive is from the Latin scriptum (letters or writing), which is the origin of words like script and scripture (sacred writing). The German "Schrift, schreiben" and similar terms in other European languages also derive from scriptum. The sense of "confession and absolution" is still found in Shrove Tuesday (the past tense of shrive), the day before Ash Wednesday in the Christian religious calendar, which is traditionally an occasion of confession and absolution.
At some point schrive assumed the peculiar sense of dictating a penalty in Old English. Perhaps this had something to do with issuing a written decree when a penalty was imposed. This eventually led to the religious context that Shakespeare used and then the modern usage of curtly dismissing someone or something without caring, or seeming to care.
This expression is generally articulated in the phrases "give short shrift to" and "make short shrift of":
- The court gave short shrift to the defendant's testimony.
- The Court made short shrift of the plaintiff's arguments.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The boss gave short shrift to our proposal for a 4-day working week."
