The use of the confessional sense of short shrift goes back to the 16th century. The earliest one is “barely adequate time for confession before execution” more recent senses are “little or no attention or consideration” (as in ‘I gave him short shrift’) or “quick work,” which is usually found in the phrase make short shrift of. Short shrift has a small handful of possible meanings. And no, there is no real connection between giving someone short shrift and short-sheeting their bed. While the words short and shift may be found used together, it generally is without the fixed set of meanings that short shrift has, and is not something we would define. You give short shrift to a person or situation (or can make short shrift of something), not short shift. But you should be able to make quick work of it.
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