A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

short change • small change
short change —a less than the correct amount of money given
back to a customer: After several rounds of drinks had been
served, Sullivan accused Cook of giving him short change.
small change —coins or bills of low denomination: It is
always best to have some small change on you, locals often
have no change of larger bills.
short hours • small hours
short hours —
1
. hours that seem to pass very quickly: Young
or old, guy or girl, thick or thin, we’ll teach you to windsurf
in a few short hours. 2. the early hours of the morning after
midnight: The monks prayed in the minster till the long hours
passed into the short.
small hours —(also: wee hours) = short hours 2: He invited
friends home, who used to come at ten o’clock, and begin to
get happy about the small hours.
See also: short time / small time.
short in something • short of something
short in something —(also: short on something ) not having
enough of smth.: Though I was at that time rich in fame —
for my book ran like wildfire — yet I was very short in money.
short of something —
1
. = short in something: Elizabeth, always
short of money, railed against the required outlay. 2. not fully
amounting to smth.: If the court does not deem it appropriate
to inflict punishment, it shall adopt other measures short of
punishment. 3. except for smth.: He will do anything short
of murder to achieve his ends.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase short for something—used of the short version of a name:
“B-girls?” I repeated, “What are they?” “That’s just short for
bar girls.”
short order • tall order
short order —(U.S.) an order for food to be prepared and
served up quickly: A good short-order cook in a well-designed
kitchen can plate 
1
00 meals an hour during morning rush.
tall order —an excessive or unreasonable demand; a difficult
task: Miss Maple considered: “It would be better, I think, to
find the body first. Don’t you?” “Yes, but isn’t that rather a tall
order?”