short end of the stick
8
7.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
peor parte
- In this negotiation, it seems like the workers are getting the short end of the stick while management takes all the benefits.
- get the short end of the stick
Now with the string that's got the short end of the stick.
- Now with the string that's got the short end of the stick.
- It's just that we sometimes get the short end of the stick because we don't we don't most R&B; acts don't get major radio play.
- And now that our our generation got the short end of the stick in terms of like college, healthcare, housing is skyrocketed out of control.
Examples
-
People who make money are suspect, and honest hardworking people are perceived as getting the short end of the stick.
Academic text (2006) -
Why is it that disabled people usually get the short end of the stick in these types of situations?
Blog text (16) -
It's another case of the wife getting the short end of the stick.
Fiction book (1999) -
Women get the short end of the stick in relationships with male writers.
Blog text (14) -
Looks like you got the short end of the stick, eh, Papa?
-
I'm getting the short end of the stick.
-
South Asia, as usual, got the short end of the stick.
Academic text (1995) -
She got the short end of the stick.
-
Let's recap on how Rachel really got the short end of the stick this season in basically every way.
Blog text (19) -
Sometimes I think we’ve gotten the short end of the stick.
Blog text (1)
Synonyms
11
7.7
To treat someone unfairly or cheat them
To be given unfair, unpleasant tasks or treatment
To end up by chance with an unpleasant task or in a worse position
Antonyms
How Unfair
197
3.9
- Informal
8
7.1
18
4.7
- Informal
34
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
short + end + of + the + stick
The components 'short' and 'end' do suggest a smaller or lesser share, so a learner who knows those words might infer someone gets a worse portion. However, the presence of 'stick' is largely arbitrary and the phrase is an idiomatic metaphor for being treated unfairly, so the exact meaning is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The idiom short end of the stick may come from a simple scene: when people split a stick, the person who got the short part had less or a worse deal. So, it now means 'to get the worse deal' or 'to be treated unfairly'.