The shorts

Short Short, n. 1. A summary account. [1913 Webster]

The short and the long is, our play is preferred. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. pl. The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran. [1913 Webster]

The first remove above bran is shorts. --Halliwell. [1913 Webster]

3. pl. Short, inferior hemp. [1913 Webster]

4. pl. Breeches; shortclothes. [Slang] --Dickens. [1913 Webster]

5. (Phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel. [1913 Webster]

If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in ``bit'' and ``beat,'' ``not'' and ``naught,'' we find that the short vowels are generally wide, the long narrow, besides being generally diphthongic as well. Hence, originally short vowels can be lengthened and yet kept quite distinct from the original longs. --H. Sweet. [1913 Webster]

{In short}, in few words; in brief; briefly.

{The long and the short}, the whole; a brief summing up.

{The shorts} (Stock Exchange), those who are unsupplied with stocks which they contracted to deliver. [1913 Webster]