為什麼in a nutshell是概括而論的意思？

1. in a nutshell 字面是[在一個核桃殼子裡]

核桃殼子很小。所以，如果能夠把東西通通放入，那就是『總而言之』，『簡單來說』，或者(我覺得這個最接近)『一言以蔽之』。
in a nutshell 的英文定義是： In a few words; concisely 翻譯中文，應該要是情況，不要一味說是『概括而論』

2. 版主所提的那版頁，『總而言之』的英文，大多都可以使用。主要還是看上下文而定。像第一個 to make a long story short = 長話短說；簡而言之。通常是講了一小段，決定趕快作結，以便繼續往下講(或就此結束)。

on the whole 是『整體而言』，縱觀全局之意。

若要做結論，用 In conclusion 或 In summary = 總之

對了，那一版的評價是 9/12 (12個評價有 9 正評)。 正評比率 75%。 不是75個正評。

3. in a nutshell 的來源，英文解釋：
"In a nutshell," as I'm sure you know, means "in a few words," or "very briefly explained." Nutshells, being the "hard exterior within which the kernel of a nut is enclosed" (to quote the Oxford English Dictionary), don't get very big since nuts themselves are generally fairly small. (There probably was a Jurassic Walnut or something way back when that could easily squish Des Moines, but that screenplay is yet to be written.) Nutshells themselves were first used as metaphors for something very small back in 1602, when Shakespeare had Hamlet declare, "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count my selfe a King of infinite space." Anything that could fit "in a nutshell" would have to be pretty darn small, and by the 18th century all the major writers were cramming things into nutshells. (http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080403074749AAQnmWZ)

好厲害的解說！真不簡單。

How to write a composition in Open University--Learning for all ?
We've Introduction; Body (1),(2),and (3), Conclusion.
Idiom is" put something in a nutshell":-
In conclusion we write:-
To put it in a nutshell after the body, we're writing the conclusion.
Or ,
To put it in a nutshell,we're writing the conclusion.

nut 是堅果的意思
shell 是外殼的意思
而nutshell除了指堅果殼之外 還有小容器 小住所 小地方的意思

in a nutshell 是概括而述的意思沒錯
它就像是把某事放進容器裡一樣 指包括.概括所有事情而結論為...

英文很多東西其實滿好去延伸意思的 ~