I heard the phrase short shrift on the radio.

Where does this phrase come from?

What is 'shrift'? Do we ever use that word, except in this phrase?

Edit: Oops!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: shufitz, February 07, 2007 11:34

Would you call a short shift a Freudian slip, Shufitz?

I often use 'short shrift', but have never thought about where it came from.

It comes from the verb shrive, meaning 'to give penance and absolution'. 'Short shrift' was originally the brief time for a condemned criminal to confess before execution. See The Online Etymology Dictionary.

I first came across Officer Short Shrift when I was a lad; it was in Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. A pity that book didn't win any awards.

A lad? That's a term we don't often use. I am sorry, Myth; I've forgotten where you are from.

Arnie, that is really interesting. I hadn't known that.