interesting, thanks GF, somehow I never thought to look it up, I figured it was just some made-up phrase! And so I did just look it up, and in addition to the meaning you mentioned, I also saw that it can refer to the penance imposed by the priest after confession https://www.dictionary.com/browse/shrift
and some definitions refer specifically that it pertains to the confession of a prisoner just before his execution
https://grammarist.com/usage/short-shrift/
and some definitions refer specifically that it pertains to the confession of a prisoner just before his execution
https://grammarist.com/usage/short-shrift/
The idiom short shrift means brief and unsympathetic treatment.1 Shrift comes from the archaic verb shrive, meaning to impose a penance upon. In its original form short shrift referred to a brief period of penance granted to a person condemned to death so he or she could be cured of immorality before execution.2 This original meaning has little relation to the modern sense of short shrift, which usually bears negative connotations. One usually does not want to be given short shrift.