OP is from Scotland, same as my wife, and I can confirm 'short-sighted' is the correct usage in Britain for what most Americans call 'near sighted'. The term does not have the negative connotation in Europe that it does in America.
Same in Australia/New Zealand AFAIK.
Cheers for clearing that up :) I was rather confused by the comment.
You've failed to consider the rest of the world and their usage of the term; it's a bit short-sighted, really.
But not near-sighted. Only one of the terms is overloaded. ;)
Funny! I'd never heard "near-sighted" before that Wikipedia article.
Surely in using 'short' exclusively metaphorically, its metaphoric effect is lost entirely?
Don't feel too bad. I had to read it twice to get the meaning, myself. The fact that it's used in a literal sense outside of the U.S. isn't something that I would have considered. I suppose that my viewing of foreign media has had a dearth of references to optometry.