get the drift of (something)
To understand the general meaning of some situation or piece of information. Since I don't have time at work to read news articles in full, I usually just read a daily news recap to get the drift of what's going on in the world. I was so tired that I couldn't focus on the boss's speech during the meeting, but I think I got the drift of what he was saying.
get the drift of something
Fig. to understand the general idea of something. I knew enough German to get the drift of this article. I don't get the drift of what you're trying to tell me.