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Shifty person synonym12/24/2023 ![]() ![]() The use of long shrift is very uncommon, and, when found, often seems to be an attempt at punning on short shrift. Ernest Bowen-Rowlands, Judgment of Death, 1924 Kill or be killed was the rule of law, and the killer had no long shrift from the law. Frederick Scarlett, Melcombe Manor, 1875 Scribere is the source of both scribble and short shrift.īut can a shrift be long? Well, sure, at least in the sense that anything that may be described as short may be lengthened and made long.īut now thou art in great peril of death and must confess yet do not overlook any of thy lesser sins through overmuch haste, for we have time for a long shrift ere our riders can be here. Etymologically, shrift comes from the Old English word scrīfan, meaning “to shrive.” Shrive means “to free from guilt,” or “to administer the sacrament of reconciliation to,” and comes from the Latin scribere (“to write”). A shrift is “a remission of sins pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of reconciliation,” or, more generally, a confession, which explains the earliest sense of short shrift. Now turning to the most important questions, let’s look a what shrift is and whether or not it can be long. "Make short shrift of him! We have no time for courtmartials now.” ![]() "Here is a spy of the enemy, General," said the Sergeant. "If I judged them, I'd give them short shrift!" cried Moore "but I mean to let them quite alone this bout, to give them rope enough, certain that in the end they will hang themselves.” The extended uses of short shrift, those which do not explicitly refer to a brief confession before dying, are now somewhat more common than the original one. The True Tragedie of Richard the Third, 1594 If villain, feedest thou me with Ifs & ands, go fetch me a Priest, make a short shrift, and dispatch him quickly For by the blessed Saint Paule I sweare, I will not dine till I see the traitors head. John Harding, The Chronicle of Ihon Hardyng in Metre, 1543 ….he tooke a preeste at auenture & made a shorte shrift, for a longer would not bee suffred, the protectoure made so muche haste to his dyner, whiche might not goo to it till this murther were dooen for sauing of his vngracious othe. ![]() The use of the confessional sense of short shrift goes back to the 16th century. The earliest one is “barely adequate time for confession before execution” more recent senses are “little or no attention or consideration” (as in ‘I gave him short shrift’) or “quick work,” which is usually found in the phrase make short shrift of. Short shrift has a small handful of possible meanings. And no, there is no real connection between giving someone short shrift and short-sheeting their bed. While the words short and shift may be found used together, it generally is without the fixed set of meanings that short shrift has, and is not something we would define. You give short shrift to a person or situation (or can make short shrift of something), not short shift. But you should be able to make quick work of it. ![]()
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