English, baby!

in a nutshell

Date: Jun 26 2003

Quote

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

“I wrote a song called ‘Hotel Paper’ and the first line is, ‘I write mostly on hotel paper/ Knowing my thoughts will never leave this room.’ In a nutshell, that’s the last year or two of my life.”
- Michelle Branch, talking about the title to her new album, Hotel Paper.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

in short, in summary, in brief, in a short version of a longer story

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

“In a nutshell” is a way to let someone know that what you’re going to say is a simplification of something. You can use it whenever you want to tell someone a short version of a story, or want to summarize a description of something. For example, if you had a long day at school and lots of bad things happened, you might summarize the days events by saying, “In a nutshell, I had a horrible day.” Or, if you saw a movie and you didn’t like it for lots of reasons, you could give your thoughts in short by saying, “In a nutshell, the movie sucked.”

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

””It’s been raining a lot here, and last week there was a huge storm. In a nutshell, the weather this summer has been terrible.”“

””I like Eminem for lots of reasons, but in a nutshell I think he’s a genius.”“

””College is a lot of fun, but the school work is really hard. In a nutshell, I’d say that you have to be a really smart person to do well in college.”“

””I hate Arnold Swarzenegger movies! They’re so violent. In a nutshell, they’re just bad.”“

Winners

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

“In a nutshell” means “in short”. The singer used “in a nutshell” to explain in few words what she had said before.
by Claudia (Bebedouro, Brazil)
in Nutshell means: briefly, in short, concisely, in capsule or in few words.
by DeSiDeRaTa (elfaiha, kuwait)
“In a nutshell” means in a few words; concisely. For exmaple, Just tell me the story in a nutshell.
by Sherry (ShenZhen, China)
In a nutshell means; in short, shortly, in summary, briefly
by Dilhun (Istanbul, Turkey)
in a nut shell means intially or basically
by Tina (Jakarta, Indonesia)
I think “in a nutshell” means “in short”.
by Antitsa (Sofia, Bulgaria)
to say it briefly and precisely
by laurent (Longwy, France)
In a nutshell means… pretend there is a long story to be told. but i don’t have much time for it. so i make that story very simple and short. when i’m in this kind of situation, i suppose i can use this slang word.
by misun (Daegu, South Korea)
This phrase means “to say something using a few words as possible”, or “in sum”.
by Rodrigo (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
I think it means a house or place that nobaby interfere with it,you can do everything there.
by Puff (SZ, China)
Maybe “in a nutshell” means in a word, or briefly speaking. A nutshell is too small for you to put many words in it, right?
by Jenny (Nanjing, China)
To say it in brief, simply.
by mosky (Taipei, ROC)
It means that brief many things and experiences for a period into a few sentences , Or we can say “in a word, anyway”.
by zhi (Beijing, China)
It means ‘briefly’ or ‘to make long story short’.
by Soohyun (Seoul, South Korea)
“in a nutshell” maybe used to talk very briefly as much as possible, or means in brief, in few words… etc
by Farah (Mishref, Kuwait)
“In a nutshell” means “To sum up”, summarizing.
by Marcelo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
In a nutshell means “in a word.”
by Jodie (Taipei City, Taiwan)
In a few words; in brief
by Javad (Shiraz, Iran)
In a nutshell means “to summarize”.
by Fabio (São Caetano do Sul, Brasil)
In the nutshell, I guess is the resume, like a conclusion
by Rose (Brazil)
‘in a nutshell’ means in sum.
by Samad (Katasfes, France)
In a nushell means in a very clear way.
by Orlando Serna (Tampa Florida, United States)
I think it means, “in conclusion”
by Thao (HCM, VietNam)
“In a nutshell,” in its essence.
by GC Négro
I think “in a nutshell” means: in short, simply, in a word.
by Charles (Dongguan, China)
general speaking, simply means, etc.
by jeannett (Jinhua, China)
In a summary
by I (NY, USA)
In a nutshell means “in addition”.
by Jeff (Beijing, China)
Maybe it means anyway or anyhow
by Nadia (TaiZhou, China)