What Does 'In The Nutshell' Mean?

The phrase 'in a nutshell' refers to something that is put forth in a concise manner. It basically means to summarise something and present it in as few words as necessary to understand the matter. It is the equivalent of the phrase, "to make a long story short". This means that only the central theme or the gist of the story is told, in order to save time. For example, "here's my idea, in a nutshell, I want to have a joint venture with you".

The phrase originated when Roman writer Pliny described Iliad, written by Homer that was copied in such a tiny hand that it was capable of fitting inside a nutshell. For some time after this phrase meant anything that was made smaller or compressed. Although from the 15th century onwards it started being applied only to written words or speech.

In a nutshell is an idiom. It means "in a few words" or concisely. It is the act of summing up the facts in a brief manner but containing all the relevant information. It is something that is described in as few words as possible. Thus this idiom is used to introduce concise summary. It is a hyperbolic statement or expression.

Initially it meant anything compressed but after 1500s it is related to written or spoken words. It alludes to the translation of Homer's Illiad by another Roman writer whose description was written in such a tiny hand that it could fit in a nutshell. The name of that writer was Pliny and he wrote the entire Iliad in a parchment.

It means to be concise about something :3 I hope this helped