Tag: small

Welcome to our list of things that are short!

Short is a comparative measure than can refer to different things – physical size, texture, temperament, length of time. To be as thorough and varied as possible, we’ve included all of these different meanings of short in this list for you, starting with a visual list of things that are short:

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Here’s a longer and more detailed list of things that are short, including descriptions:

• Oompa Loompas: Oompa Loompas are from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. They’re small humans who work in the chocolate factory for Willy Wonka.
  
• Hobbit: Hobbits are a small humanoid race in the series “Lord of the Rings”.
  
• People: People come in many heights, shapes and sizes (none of which should be body shamed).
  
• Children: Even tall children are short to adults (usually).
  
• Hair: People tend to love cutting their hair into different lengths and styles, with shorter styles growing in popularity.
  
• Short Skirt: Generally if a skirt is above the knee, they’re considered short.
  
• Footstool: These are very short chairs with no backs for our feet to rest on.
  
• Blink of an eye: Blinks are so short that they’re the basis of a phrase describing how short an event is (“in the blink of an eye”).
  
• A Second: This is a small measurement of time and can be used as a figure of speech to describe a short period, as in – “Back in a second!”
  
• A Minute: While longer than a second, this is still a very short amount of time.
  
• Shorts: These are short pants, made for warmer weather or casual occasions where full-length pants are either inappropriate or undesirable.
• Patience: When one’s patience is running out, we can describe it as “short” or “running short”.
  
• Staff: If a team is short-staffed, then there aren’t quite enough people to make operations run as they should.
  
• Nap: While naps can be a few hours long, they are by definition a short sleep.
  
• Names: There are plenty of short, single-syllable names (like Dan, Tom or Rae).
  
• Words: There are so many short words – with the shortest having only one letter (like “a” or “I”).
  
• Lists: While lists can be short, there is also a specific type of list called a short list (or shortlist) where an original, longer list has been edited and condensed down.
  
• Sentence: Sentences can be as short as a single sentence – like “yes” or “no”.
  
• Conversation: When wanting information, it’s common for people to request a quick conversation with one another.
  
• Temper: If someone is quick to anger, we say they have a “short temper”.
  
• Short Film: If a film around thiry minutes or shorter, it’s considered to be a short film.
  
• Short Story: Any sort of story (written or verbal) can be short.
  
• Song: Songs generally only last for a few minutes. They’re also used to describe short experiences (“as short as a song”).
  
• Tree Stump: This is the part of a tree left behind once a tree has been cut down. In comparison to the original tree, these are very small and short indeed.
  
• Legs: Shorter legs are usually blamed for slow walking.
  
• Experiences: Even long experiences can be remembered fondly as short moments after the fact.
  
• Explanation: If an explanation is efficient or simple, it’s called a quick or short explanation.
  
• Ephemera: Ephemera describes things that are short-lived.
  
• Sneeze: These are used to describe how short an event is – “sneeze and you’ll miss it”.
  
• Pastry: Pastries can have a “short” texture.
  
• The window of opportunity: These are generally short-lived, which is why they’re described as a “window”.
  
• An Hour: An hour may be a very long time to children (and young people in general) but to many adults, an hour is a short period of time.
  
• A Day: This may be longer than the previous measurements of time listed here, but in the scheme of things, a day is still a very short amount of time.
  
• Novella: If a book is shorter than 80 pages long, then it’s considered short and is known as a novella.
  
• Shortbread: This is a type of biscuit with a crumbly texture that’s described as “short”.
  
• Joke: Jokes can be short if they’re only a couple of sentences long (like one-liners or knock-knock jokes).
  
• Phrase: Phrases tend to be short as they’re only a few sentences long.
  
• Quote: Short, inspirational quotes are commonly used as motivational posters.
  
• Meeting: Ideally, all meetings would be efficient and short.
  
• Dream: “Dreams” refers to two things – the sequences we see whilst asleep, and a cherished life goal. If our goals don’t go as planned, we might describe them as a “short-lived dream”.
  
• Life: While a life may be the longest amount of time you’re able to experience things, since there are so many possible things to experience – more than you’d ever be able to pack into a lifetime – life is considered short, thus the idiom “Life is short.”
  
• Time: While time doesn’t technically have a size, when we don’t have much of it we can say we’re “short on time”.

We hope that this list of short things was useful for you! We did our best to be as varied and thorough as possible, but if we missed anything that you think should be included, feel free to let us know by leaving a comment.

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