IN A NUTSHELL

To say something “in a nutshell” is to say it briefly, using as few words as possible.

 Examples:

 “And there, in a nutshell, is the story of the Italian cafes in Wales.”

 “In a nutshell, extracurriculars are ‘where parents network with each other,’ Dr. Calarco said.”

 “In a nutshell, she says, the course helped her understand how to view life through a positive rather than a negative lens.”

 A nutshell has been used to symbolize compactness since the late 16th century and is mentioned in this context in Shakespeare’s Hamlet [1].

Photo credit: Sylvie Fee Matter (Creative Commons)

[1] Cresswell, Julia. “nut” in The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Oxford University Press, 2009.