laconic

English translation: taciturn, not chatty

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:laconic
Selected answer:taciturn, not chatty
Entered by: S.J

18:45 Nov 5, 2020
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama / laconic
English term or phrase: laconic
The campaign was launched by laconic film star, Chips Rafferty.

What "laconic" stands for here?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chips_Rafferty

Thanks in advance,
S.J
Canada
Local time: 22:37
taciturn, not chatty
Explanation:
la·con·ic (lə-kŏn′ĭk)
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.
Selected response from:

Charlotte Fleming
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:37
Grading comment
Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +3taciturn, not chatty
Charlotte Fleming
4 +1expressed in very short / condensed sentences as in "with it or on it"
Daryo


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
taciturn, not chatty


Explanation:
la·con·ic (lə-kŏn′ĭk)
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.


    https://www.thefreedictionary.com/laconic
Charlotte Fleming
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:37
Native speaker of: English
Grading comment
Thank you.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yvonne Gallagher
4 mins
  -> Thank you!

agree  dandamesh
1 hr
  -> Thanks!

agree  Anastasia Andriani
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Anastasia!

agree  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

neutral  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

disagree  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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16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
expressed in very short / condensed sentences as in "with it or on it"


Explanation:
the opposite of chatty / prone to logorrhoea / ...

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"



Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:37
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Polangmar
8 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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