short-order cook
A person who prepares food that cooks quickly.
Bruce found a summer job as a short-order cook in a drive-in restaurant.
The new diner needs another short-order cook.
short-spoken
Using so few words that you seem impatient or angry; speaking in a short impatient way; saying as little as possible in an unfriendly way.
Jim is always short-spoken when he is tired.
We were hoping to borrow Dad's car, but he was so short-spoken when he came home that we were afraid to ask.
shortchange
To return less money to a customer in a store than is coming to him or her; cheat.
I was shortchanged by the cashier when I got seven dollars back instead of eight.
shortcut
A road shorter than the one that people normally take.
We can save twenty minutes if we take this shortcut over the hill.
shorthanded
Understaffed; short on workers.
With several employees gone for the holiday weekend and two dozen people in line, the rent-a-car agency suddenly found itself terribly shorthanded.
stop short
To suddenly stop.
Jake stopped short when he heard somebody yell out his name loud but there was no one in sight.
the long and the short
the long and short
All that needs to be said; the basic fact; point.
The long and the short of the matter is that the man is no actor.
The money isn't there, and that's the long and short of it.