Laconic - Terse and conciseI still remember 666's fascination with Zach Snyder's movie "300" and the lengthy discourses he delved into before the movie was released. I never got around to watching the movie but the dialogues he listed on one of his posts stayed with me. Little did I know then, that they will lead me to origin of the word laconic. Laconia is the name of a region of Greece of which Sparta was the capital. The Spartans, noted for being warlike and disciplined, were also known for the bluntness of the speech and for their dry wit. And hence the word laconic!
Trivia: An example of a Spartan laconic exchange: When Philip II of Macedon turned his attention to Sparta after having key Greek city-states in submission, he sent a message: "If I win this war, you will be slaves forever." The Spartans sent back a one word reply: "If".
Sources: www.answers.com, Google Images
7 comments:
Aah.. that was some movie. I still think the dialogue "This is Spartaaaaa" is one of the greatest dialogues i have seen in cinema.
Needless to say, many times I yell to myself "This is Spartaaaa" to inspire me when m feeling down and defeated.
haha...........am glad u found your mantra to buck yourself up!!!! I still need to find one :)
I cant stop laughing at the thought of you going "This is Sparta" sitting in the middle of Dubai :)
Moi, another good one!
mu husband loved this movie, but i haven't seen it. but i learned a new word today! :)
I loved the movie. And although the next sentence that follows has nothing to do with the word "laconic" itself, I still am going to put it out there...I LUUHHHVVV Gerard Butler!! There!! :)
Radha : Thanks :)
Blue: Hey, so glad to see ya here :)
Jas: I guess I will get down to watching it once I am done with my thesis etc .....
Hey! thought of sending another contribution to semantica. on its way!
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