Etymology

short end of the stick

Today it means: A situation, opportunity, or outcome which is less favorable than situations, opportunities, or outcomes experienced by or available to others. Full definition →

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The story

Unknown. Attested since the 1500s, suggested by one theory to be a minced oath of shit end of the stick, as an 1840s cite uses crappy, but this theory is unlikely. Possibly also derived from a previous literal meaning, as wrong end of the stick is even older, though the precise literal meaning is unclear.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.