What does "laconic" mean?

[James Smith]

Shouting "FIRE!" or "DUCK!" or "RUN!" certainly
qualify as terse, but I don't think anyone would call
the speaker laconic.  For all I know, the Spartans
might have been very emotional people in spite of
their brevity, but to me the word "laconic" includes
an indication of emotional distance or disinterest.



--- "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

> >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
>


James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.

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