The short end of the stick
This past week, I got the short end of the stick at work again. I had to correct essays for an online program. There were 20 essays and it takes me about an hour to give feedback on each one. I like to give thorough feedback to help the writers learn rather than just give a mark. Sometimes I end up write more than them.
Most of the other instructors were free last week, so our institute decided to have a professional development program on Thursday and a “culture” trip on Friday. But these were really the only days to mark the essays. I told the supervisor that I really needed the time to mark the essays, but instead she made the trip mandatory. So, I had to work overtime on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to make up for the lost time. Due to our odd schedules, sometimes the instructors at my institute are busy and sometimes they have time for culture trips. I just got the short end of the stick with my schedule this autumn.
Getting the short end of the stick means that you received the worst part of a deal. It can also be used to describe an unfair or unequal situation. In my example, the other teachers were not affected by losing a day of work to the culture trip, but it placed a lot of extra work on me.
Example: Why do I have to clean the washrooms while you watch TV? I feel like I got the short end of the stick here.
Origins
The true origin of this phrase is not well understood, but there are a few explanations. The short end of the stick may have come from fighting with sticks. If you had a shorter stick, you were at a disadvantage. Or, it may have come from another game where the loser is the one that is holding the short end of the stick. When I played baseball as a child, there was a game to choose the starting team. Players would take turns putting their hands on a bat, with one hand placed above the last one until someone had to cover the end of the bat.
There are also several explanations involving poop. There is another similar phrase, the shitty (or crappy) end of the stick, that may have shared origins. I have no idea why this would happen, but a few sources have claimed this: A person who is in control of the situation would push a stick up someone’s rectum. This shorter end would be covered poop. You would not want to grab this end of the stick. Also, before toilet paper; people used a curved stick, a ladle or a stick with a sponge on the end to wipe their butts. There was a long handle and a shorter end for wiping. If you went to the washroom late at night, you risked accidently grabbing the short (shitty) end of the stick. It has also been suggested that short is a euphemism for shit.
Interesting Fact: Even though toilet paper was invented in China by the 6th century, the Western world didn’t have commercially available toilet paper until 1857!
Sticks are also used for leverage. If two people are carrying something placed on a stick, the person with the shorter end will have to use more energy. One more specific example is carrying wood. A log is moved by putting smaller sticks under it with a person on each side. They lift the stick, and therefore the log. Another example is royalty from a long time ago. They would have people carry their cart placed on long handles. A shorter end of one of these sticks is harder to lift because of leverage.
Most people believe that the phrase comes from an older phrase, the worse end of the staff. In this case, the staff is a long stick. This phrase dates to 1542. By 1562, they were already using the current phrase, short end of the stick.
Whatever the origin, we can see that the phrase doesn’t make much literal sense. How can an end of a stick be short? Surely, a stick can be short, but can an end be short? How do you decide what an end is and where it starts?
See Also: Over the barrel, Burnt out, Roll with the Punches
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Reference:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/short-end-of-the-stick--the
https://www.jstor.org/stable/455954
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/end-of-the-stick.html
https://www.history.com/news/toilet-paper-hygiene-ancient-rome-china