Word Woman

Welcome to another astounding installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Clear out the winter cobwebs from your brain by diving into a good book -- or, if you prefer, stretch your synapses by learning a new word. Let's get started with the Word of the Week:

Laconic: "If we enter Laconia, we will raze it to the ground," an Athenian herald (or Philip of Macedon) is said to have announced to the Laconians. "If," was the reply he received from the sententious Spartan magistrates. The Lacadaemonians were all supposed to be so parsimonious with words, and were noted in the ancient world not only for their stoic Spartan lifestyle but also for their short, brusque and pithy way of speaking and writing, which was appropriate for their outward lack of emotion. Not only in Sparta, the capital, but throughout the country youths were taught modesty and conciseness of speech, taught so well that the word laconic comes to us by way of Latin from the Greek Lakonikos, meaning "like a Laconian." A laconic person is generally one who expresses much without wasting words, who is terse, to the point and usually undemonstrative. -- "The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins", Robert Hendrickson, Checkmark Books, New York, 1997.

Example: Though he was both intelligent and athletic, Bill was so laconic that Rita found the prospect of a long-term relationship with him rather unappealing.