sum and substance
noun
main idea, gist, or point: the sum and substance of an argument.
Origin of sum and substance
First recorded in 1585–95
Words nearby sum and substance
sulu,
sulu archipelago,
sulu sea,
sulzberger,
sum,
sum and substance,
sum total,
sum up,
sum-,
sum-up,
sumac
Idioms and Phrases with sum and substance
sum and substance
The essence or gist of something, as in The sum and substance of their platform is financial conservatism. This redundant expression—both sum and substance here mean “essence”—has probably survived owing to alliteration. Shakespeare used it in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (4:1): “My riches are these poor habiliments [clothes], Of which if you should here disfurnish me, You take the sum and substance that I have.”