Sloppy Writing/Lazy Thinking--But Amusing!

Tinguely and Saint Phalle were married in 1971 and separated only two short years later in 1973.

(found on a web page) 

Q: were the years shorter in the 70s?

Oh, I know what the writer means, except the writer can’t know how long or short the years were. The person experiencing those years can know subjectively, but to use this cliché in the 3^rd person is just sloppy writing born from lazy thinking.