Short List

Attention workers, we have completed our evaluation of the plant. We regret to announce the following lay-offs, which I will read in alphabetical order:

• Simpson, Homer
  

That is all.

—Horst, The Simpsons (Animation)

A "List" that is so short it doesn't seem appropriate to call it a list (probably no more than 2 items). Even so, it is presented in a "list format". Sometimes the list is so short it doesn't have any items on it at all, just a name/title.

An obsessed list-maker is frequently responsible for a Short List.

Contrast Long List. Not to be confused with a list of selected, often elite, candidates from which a final choice is to be made.

Examples of Short List include:

Literature

• In the book Summer Knight, Dresden states that the list of people he trusts is one person long (It's Murphy in case you're wondering).

Live-Action TV

• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had a bit called "The Late Show's Tolerance Tips" that fits.
• On a 2017 episode of Saturday Night Live there was a list given of people willing to perform for Donald Trump's inauguration that had just two entries on it.
• Yes Prime Minister: The episode "The Bishop's Gambit" shows that, while it's up to the Prime Minister to advise the Sovereign who to name as a bishop of the Church of England, the Church Commissioners always provide a list of only two candidates, one of whom is obviously unsuitable.

Web Original

• In one episode of The Great War youtube channel series OUT OF THE TRENCHES (Marines - Schutztruppe - Artillery Sound), one person numbers his only question.

Western Animation

• In The Simpsons, after Homer's workplace is bought out, he is fired. Even though Homer is the only person on the list, Horst takes the time to state the list is in alphabetical order.
• At one point in SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick had a to do list that had one entry. And that entry was "Nothing".

Real Life

• As mentioned on the Canadian Politics page (and showing that the Yes Prime Minister example above has some Truth in Television), the Governor General of Canada is supposed to be chosen by the Sovereign from a list of candidates provided by the Prime Minister. As of 2019, the Prime Minister's list of potential appointees to the position of Governor General over the last few decades has been exactly one name long.