adjective phrase🎓 English idiom
short and sweet
brief and pleasant or to the point
What it means
Short and sweet describes something that is satisfyingly brief — long enough to do the job, short enough not to bore anyone. It's often applied to speeches, messages, meetings, or visits that are kept compact on purpose.
Words like “short and sweet” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.
Examples
- I'll keep my speech short and sweet — congratulations to the happy couple.
- Her email was short and sweet: yes, see you Friday.
- The meeting was short and sweet, just twenty minutes.
- It was a short and sweet holiday — only three days, but very relaxing.
Where it comes from
Recorded in English since the 1500s, originally in the form 'short and sweet, like an ass's gallop'; the modern, positive sense became standard by the 1800s.
Related idioms
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