Laconic - is it like? Significance, interesting facts from history

Often we meet in the conversation the words "laconic," "concise". We appreciate in communicating with others their ability to concisely transmit information, because it saves our time. The meaning of this term is known to us from childhood - they are denoted by short, but meaningful speech. However, not everyone was especially interested in the term, let alone its history. Last, by the way, the word "laconic" is very interesting.

In this article, we consider the meaning of the word "laconic", as well as the origin of this adjective. Interesting facts from the history will come by the way, as they illustrate the peaks of brevity.

About the meaning

Dictionaries interpret the meaning of the adverb "laconically" through the word from which it happened - "laconism." We will begin with this.

So, laconism is an expression of thoughts in the speech form, in which the minimum number of words is used. "Compression", "brevity of presentation" can be read by the closest synonyms for words.

From this we logically have that "laconic" is a succinct, brief, terse expression of our thoughts.

Origin of the word

As we started the speech at the beginning of the article, the origin of the word "laconic" is interesting in itself. It is rooted in the history of ancient Greece and affects such a world-famous city as Sparta.

The word "laconism" has a common root with the name of one of the regions of Ancient Greece - Laconia. It was here that Sparta was, and Socrates himself, the great thinker of antiquity, drew the attention of future generations to the surprising manner of communication between the Spartans. He warned that sincere surprise awaits the interlocutor when he hears Spartan speeches.

The simplicity and accuracy of expressions of Spartans Socrates compared with the speeches of the child, exclusively in a practical manner. They are also sharp and directed exactly to the goal, as sometimes it can be noticed in a conversation with a little-developed child - they are not distorted by generally accepted secular elements, but only matters. Spartans knew how to show what it means "laconically."

Interesting facts from the history

The laconic speeches of the Spartans reached us legends. One of them is connected with the events under Thermopylae, the unequal battle between King Leonid and the Persians. On the proud statements of the Persian king Xerxes that, with the number of their troops, the Spartans should lay their spears and surrender in order to survive, Leonid answered: "Come and take."

Valor and genius simplicity of Leonid's speeches are immortalized in his dialogue with his wife. She asked her husband before the battle at Thermopylae what to do to her if he died. "Marry a worthy husband and give birth to healthy children," - such an answer, according to legend, she received.

Brilliant, witty response from the Spartans received Philip of Macedon on the way to the walls of the city of Sparta, which he intended to capture. Blinded by his previous victories, Philippe told the Spartans that if the gates were broken through them, the walls of Sparta would be crushed and taken by the conqueror's army, as well as the whole of Greece before. The brevity of the Spartans struck Macedonian: "If" - that was their answer. The result can be foreseen at least by the fact that the son of Philip, Alexander, did not dare to go to war against Sparta.

Conclusion

Now we certainly know that laconically - it's brief, but not just a little bit mean. Conciseness implies a brilliantly thought-out response, capable of replacing lengthy speeches.

The brevity of the presentation of thoughts is not for nothing that folk wisdom says: "Brevity is the sister of talent". And really: in order to reach that peak of imagery of the short expressions of famous Greeks, one must have talent. Laconic - it's also in Spartan, as history says.

It remains for us to train, to develop intellectually and spiritually, through the experience of previous generations and our own attempts. Is it possible to speak laconically - is it your talent?