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in a nutshell

Date: Mar 29 2001

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“Well I don’t know how good I am at nutshells, but here is the nutshell…The ex-wife marries a new guy, the new guy is loved by everyone in town. I’m not the new guy, I’m the ex-husband. He turns out to be a bad guy, the new guy. And the trouble starts there.”
- John Travolta, movie actor, talking about his newest movie.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

in a very brief way, in a short statement

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

If you want someone to give you a short answer to a question, you can ask them to tell you tell you in a nutshell. Or, if you don’t have time to give someone a long explanation, just do it in a nutshell.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“In a nutshell, the book is about a group of fishermen who get lost at sea.”

“I don’t like Julie. In a nutshell, I think she’s selfish and mean spirited. I don’t think you should hang out with her anymore.”

“Who is Michael Jordan? Well, in a nutshell, he’s the greatest basketball player on the planet.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

It seems a very hard word, but in a nutshell for me means “In a few words; concisely”, for example: “Just give me the facts in a nutshell.” just like a nutshell the explanations John Travolta gave had to be very concise.
by Francisco (Maracaibo, Venezuela)
“In a nutshell” means “in short”, “in two words” or “to make long story short”.
by Taras (Montreal, Canada)
I think the meaning of “in a nutshell” means very briefly, or giving vague information.
by Jay (Seoul, Korea)
I think that in a nutshell means in short. It is used when you don’t want to go into details and to tell only the plot or main points of the story.
by Nataly (Chelyabinsk, Urals, Russia)
I guess the meaning of ‘In a nutshell’ is to tell something briefly or to explain the story in short.
by Yoko (Japan)
I think “in a nutshell” means ‘in a few words’.
by Rubens (Brazil)
I guess “nutshells” means brief , to relate a story in brief.
by Bushra (Bahrain)
In a nutshell means in two words, briefly. To say in a nutshell is to sum up, brief, recap.
by Anya (Russia)

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