What does "laconic" mean?

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>Well, though I'm no longer a twenty-something and modesty prevents me
>from describing myself as "highly-educated," until I read this thread,
>I, too, labored under the misapprhension that "laconic" means
>"emotionless, affectless, dispassionate." I came to this conclusion as
>a consequence of the contexts wherein the word usually appears in
>literature.

I am also getting a little too old to be called "twenty-something". I have
taken "laconic" to mean "given to few words" as long as I can remember.
However, I don't remember ever using the word myself, and had someone asked
me "Doesn't it also mean 'emotionless' sometimes?" I admit that I wouldn't
have known the answer for sure.

Now I've looked in some books, and looky here in MW3 -- as respectable a
source as any, and not unduly reflective of local or momentary fads or
boo-boos AFAIK. Definition (2a) of "laconic": "speaking or writing with
Spartan brevity : CURT, TERSE, UNDEMONSTRATIVE." Definition  (2) of
"Spartan": "marked by simplicity, frugality, avoidance of comfort and
luxury, strict self-discipline, severity of manner, brevity in speech,
hardihood in the face of pain or danger" -- not too helpful, I guess.
"Undemonstrative": "restrained or reserved in expression of feeling : not
effusive". Close enough to "not expressing emotion", right?

So maybe the misapprehension is not total. Does something like this seem an
apt usage? <<When he heard the awful news, he became laconic, able to choke
out only a few syllables and a brief wail of anguish.>>

-- Doug Wilson