short end of the stick

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.

• "Near-synonyms: shitty stick; shortest straw; raw deal"
• "Soviet emphasis on high-yield weapons might give them a megaton surplus. . . . We might then be on the short end of the stick."
• "[T]he 44 Governors . . . spent three days in tense, often heated discussion of the enormous political and fiscal problems handed to the states under President Reagan's "new federalism." Said Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus: "There is some apprehension on the part of the Governors that we are getting the short end of the stick.""
• "“[W]orking people are sick and tired of the bosses getting million-dollar bonuses and the workers getting the short end of the stick.”"
• "Does this mean Middlesbrough get the short end of the stick, with what will surely be the most ramshackle show of the tour?"
• "I learned the hard way that people who ditch cable TV still get the short end of the stick."

• shitty stick
• ;
• draw the short straw
• ;
• raw deal

• wrong end of the stick
• short straw