Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term
laconic
What "laconic" stands for here?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chips_Rafferty
Thanks in advance,
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Responses
United Kingdom
Travel, wine and scuba specialist.
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish)
Works in: Italian to English, English
taciturn, not chatty
adj.
Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.
The film star was not chatty, he was a man of few words.
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Yvonne Gallagher
4 mins
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Thank you!
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dandamesh
1 hr
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Thanks!
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Anastasia Andriani
3 hrs
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Thanks, Anastasia!
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writeaway
: But if laconic is a problem, then taciturn is bound to be one too. And yes, a dictionary is a handy way to be sure about what a word means
5 hrs
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David Sirett
: about "taciturn", disinclined to speak, uncommunicative (Chambers). "Laconic" is more a way of speaking, the person may be happy to speak and communicate, just uses few words to do so.
12 hrs
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Daryo
: "taciturn" is not part of it // Also, the more I look at it, the more it looks like a typo for "iconic", IOW "laconic" is very likely to be completely irrelevant for this ST, and in fact "iconic" is really the term needed!!!
16 hrs
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expressed in very short / condensed sentences as in "with it or on it"
It's about expressing yourself in short / condensed sentences. No a priori connection with being in any particular mood (taciturn / exalted / bored / whichever ....)
la•con•ic lə-kŏn′ĭk► adj.
Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.
Pertaining to Laconia or its inhabitants; Lacedæmonian or Spartan.
Expressing much in few words, after the manner of the ancient Laconians; sententious; pithy; short; brief: as, a laconic phrase.
"with it or on it"
Dear Straighhers really tell their sons, “With your shield or on it?”
"With it or on it." We've all heard that Spartan mothers said it while giving their sons shields before their first battle. With it = victorious hero; on it = fallen hero; without it = coward. I've heard this quote attributed to Herodotus, but I've never seen any specific reference. It's consistent with modern conceptions of Sparta, but is it real? Is it just an old wives' tale concocted to make us believe our own mothers aren't so bad?
HCPIII
Una Persson replies:
You’ve got a point. After you hear about the mothers of Sparta, you don’t think your own mom is so bad because she makes you drink your milk.
Your question is more complex than it might seem. First let’s look at the source of the shield story, which isn’t Herodotus but the Roman writer Plutarch. He writes, “Another woman handed her son his shield, and exhorted him: ‘Son, either with this or on this.'” This quote is found in Plutarch’s Moralia, a collection of morals, tales, and short stories, in a section called Sayings of Spartan Women.
...
https://www.straightdope.com/21343260/did-spartan-mothers-re...
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Note added at 1 day 19 mins (2020-11-06 19:04:31 GMT)
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[in the movie "Forty Thousand Horsemen"] He played a laconic tall bushman, a type similar to that which had been conveyed on stage and screen by Pat Hanna.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chips_Rafferty
=>
the character played by this actor is a "laconic tall bushman" i.e. a bushman that talks in condensed sentences - uses few words to say a lot.
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Note added at 1 day 41 mins (2020-11-06 19:26:50 GMT)
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All this assuming that we are not dealing with a typo as
the "iconic film star, Chips Rafferty"
would make far more sense than
the "laconic film star, Chips Rafferty"
Discussion
For all we know when not acting this actor could be a chatterbox with the STOP button jammed ...
BTW, a question for Sjaatoul
where this came from:
"The campaign was launched by laconic film star, Chips Rafferty." ???
Is this actually in the ST you're translating?
The only "context" you gave is about a character played by this actor [NOT the actor himself!] being "laconic" (the role of a "laconic tall bushman" in the movie "Forty Thousand Horsemen").
OTOH
John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 1909 – 27 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian",[1] Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death in 1971,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chips_Rafferty
I don't know many people who would say that a "typical Australian" is anywhere near being "laconic" in the way they express themselves.
so "laconic film star, Chips Rafferty" simply makes no sense.
BUT
the "iconic film star, Chips Rafferty"
could make perfect sense.