Word of the Day for Monday October 10, 2005
laconic \luh-KON-ik\, adjective:
Using or marked by the use of a minimum of words; brief and
pithy; brusque.
Readers' reports range from the laconic to the verbose.
--Bernard Stamler, "A Brooklyncentric View of Life," [1]New
York Times, February 28, 1999
In the laconic language of the sheriff department's report,
there was "no visible sign of life."
--David Wise, [2]Cassidy's Run
There was one tiny photograph of him at a YMCA camp plus a
few laconic and uninformative entries in a soldier's log
from the war year, 1917-18.
--Edward W. Said, [3]Out of Place: A Memoir
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Laconic comes, via Latin, from Greek Lakonikos, "of or
relating to a Laconian or Spartan," hence "terse," in the
manner of the Laconians.
Trivia: Laconia was an ancient region of southern Greece in
the southeastern Peloponnesus; Sparta was the capital. Its
people were noted for being warlike and disciplined, and also
for the brevity of their speech. |
