APAD: The short end of the stick

Meaning:

   To get the short end of the stick is to come off worst in a bargain or contest.

 

Background:

   The expression `the ... end of the stick' comes in many forms. The majority

   of these refer to getting the worse or, occasionally, the better part of a

   bargain. They inserted adjectives which indicate the bad outcome are `short',

   `crappy' or `blunt` (or their synonyms or antonyms). There is also the phrase

   `getting the wrong end of the stick', which has a different meaning, that is,

   `having the facts wrong' or simply `being mistaken'.

   

   Taking the occurrence of these in search engines as a guide, the four forms

   rank in popularity of current usage like this:

   

     1. Short/shorter/long.

     2. Wrong/rough/right.

     3. Shit/shitty/dirty/crap/crappy.

     4. Butt/blunt/pointy/pointed/thick.

     

   Both meanings of the phrase, that is, bad bargain or wrong facts, originated

   with a negative connotation. The `long end of the stick' and `right end of

   the stick' were coined later as simple opposites of their respective original

   form.

   ...

   

   `The short end of the stick' is by far the most commonly used form of the

   phrase. That is rather odd, in that the ends of sticks can be dirty or

   pointy, they can even be iridescent or hirsute, but it is difficult to see

   how they can be short. This has spawned the suggestion that `short' is simply

   a euphemism for `shit' - after all sticks can be shitty and that form of the

   phrase is also commonplace.

   ...

   

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

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In our nation's proud 5000-year history of great dynasties, rising and falling,

it was always the common folks who got the short end of the stick. The evil

feudal past, I was taught in school. I had since led a charmed life and rarely

thought outside my bubble.

 

Yesterday, I was shocked to read* that the government, after decades of

miraculous economic boom on the back of generations of Chinese labor, upped the

minimal monthly pension by 20RMB to 163RMB (about 22USD). Well, this is it, I

thought, the crappy end of the stick and it's not just the evil past after all.

 

* `The Tsunami Is Coming': China's Global Exports Are Just Getting Started --

  New York Times (Apr 8)