diff --git a/parse-options.c b/parse-options.c
index c751ebf601825c6354c6e2c7ed650f1693947a45..12a9f9ea68f5ceac24aa4d2f530b68e8c0468983 100644
--- a/parse-options.c
+++ b/parse-options.c
@@ -254,3 +254,24 @@ void usage_with_options(const char * const *usagestr,
 
 	exit(129);
 }
+
+/*----- some often used options -----*/
+#include "cache.h"
+int parse_opt_abbrev_cb(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
+{
+	int v;
+
+	if (!arg) {
+		v = unset ? 0 : DEFAULT_ABBREV;
+	} else {
+		v = strtol(arg, (char **)&arg, 10);
+		if (*arg)
+			return opterror(opt, "expects a numerical value", 0);
+		if (v && v < MINIMUM_ABBREV)
+			v = MINIMUM_ABBREV;
+		else if (v > 40)
+			v = 40;
+	}
+	*(int *)(opt->value) = v;
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/parse-options.h b/parse-options.h
index 2b8e7624d67b5796d9e1b38cf65700c5471b98ff..2558e00a7c0eb12a028f4d2e88f2a8f255716604 100644
--- a/parse-options.h
+++ b/parse-options.h
@@ -55,4 +55,15 @@ extern int parse_options(int argc, const char **argv,
 extern NORETURN void usage_with_options(const char * const *usagestr,
                                         const struct option *options);
 
+/*----- some often used options -----*/
+extern int parse_opt_abbrev_cb(const struct option *, const char *, int);
+
+#define OPT__VERBOSE(var)  OPT_BOOLEAN('v', "verbose", (var), "be verbose")
+#define OPT__QUIET(var)    OPT_BOOLEAN('q', "quiet",   (var), "be quiet")
+#define OPT__DRY_RUN(var)  OPT_BOOLEAN('n', "dry-run", (var), "dry run")
+#define OPT__ABBREV(var)  \
+	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "abbrev", (var), "n", \
+	  "use <n> digits to display SHA-1s", \
+	  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, &parse_opt_abbrev_cb, 0 }
+
 #endif