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The English we speak.

From BBC Learning English.

Hello. Hello and

Hello I'm Phaebe.

from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

And hello I'm Faye.

We're here to teach you a real English phrase. Rob if you don't mind me saying you look a bit rough

rough well you would be if you'd had the night I've just had. Oh yes what happened? Well I went out for dinner with

Neil then we went to a pub and then I lost my wallet and to cut a long story short

I got home at two o'clock this morning. Oh dear but why cut the long story

short I want to hear the whole story? No you don't it would take too long and we

haven't got time and anyway. It's not that interesting.

That's why I'm just telling you the most important parts of the story.

Right. So to cut a long story short means to tell only the main or important parts of a story, not all the details.

Hmm, that's a shame Rob because I'm sure you had lots more to tell me.

Really? Well, we've got to keep this program short.

So shall we move on and hear some examples of this phrase in action?

So, I spoke to the boss and to cut a long story short, I'm getting a promotion. There was a technical problem with our plane which they couldn't fix so to cut a long story

short we had to wait for another flight and we arrived a day late.

I met Gita last year and to cut a long story short we're getting married

...