The phrase "a slightly shorter version" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to a condensed or abbreviated form of a text or document.
Example: "I have prepared a slightly shorter version of the report for those who are short on time."
Alternatives: "a somewhat abbreviated version" or "a more concise version."
A slightly shorter version ran in the next day's print edition.
About 25 years ago, Ed Gillet completed a slightly shorter version of the solo California-to-Hawaii trip, the only person known to have succeeded.
Mr. McCain's speech yesterday was a slightly shorter version of the one he delivered on Saturday at Liberty University, an avowedly evangelical institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
This hourlong CBS special, to be shown today (at 12 30 p.m. on Channel 2 in New York and at widely varying times on other stations around the country) is a slightly shorter version of the film released last month on video and DVD, which quickly became a best seller.
(Note: A slightly shorter version of this essay ran in The Week on 9/30/16).
The catastrophe was understandably unexpected since a slightly shorter version (thanks to weaker legal protection for parody) had been published without incident in England, the Commonwealth, and beyond, in early November 2009.
Moldering somewhere in my mother's basement, however, is a New Trier High School yearbook with a photo of the indie rock star and sometime Book Review contributor Liz Phair sporting a slightly shorter, punkier version of a Dorothy Hamill haircut.
It turns out that, in fact, company in the last seven months had registered at least two other trademarks for slightly shorter versions of the same meal kit concept.
These were described as the elite of the Gorn, with only one Commander appearing in the game, while the Sentinels were slightly shorter versions of the same type of Gorn, armed with different weapons.
Now there's a miniature version that has a slightly shorter range and handles only one probe, but it's half the price.
Matt Perisho has been the Texas version of the Yankees' David Cone, with a slightly shorter streak without a victory and with an inferior stature since he has 180 fewer career victories.
