All The Tropes:Brevity Is Wit: Difference between revisions

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[[Brevity Is Wit/Laconic|tl;dr]]
{{Mechanics of Writing}}[[Brevity Is Wit/Laconic|tl;dr]]


{{quote|''My liege, and madam, to expostulate
{{quote|''My liege, and madam, to expostulate
What majesty should be, what duty is,
''What majesty should be, what duty is,
What day is day, night night, and time is time,
''What day is day, night night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;
''Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
''Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
''And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
[[Hypocritical Humor|I will be brief.]]''|'''[[Hypocritical Humor|Polonius]]''', ''[[Hamlet]]''}}
''[[Hypocritical Humor|I will be brief.]]''
|'''[[Hypocritical Humor|Polonius]]'''|''[[Hamlet]]''}}


{{quote|''[[Trope Namer|Brevity is... wit.]]''|Banner at a [[Bland-Name Product|Reading Digest]] convention, ''[[The Simpsons]]'', "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"}}
{{quote|''[[Trope Namer|Brevity is... wit.]]''|Banner at a [[Bland-Name Product|Reading Digest]] convention|''[[The Simpsons]]'', "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"}}


Which quote's more readable?
Which quote's more readable?


<!-- %%Don't get carried away trying to turn this into a SelfDemonstratingArticle that uses as few words as possible. This is supposed to be a practical explanatory guideline, not a gag about taking it to an extreme. We already have BeigeProse and LaconicWiki for that. -->
<!-- %%Don't get carried away trying to turn this into a Self-Demonstrating Article that uses as few words as possible. This is supposed to be a practical explanatory guideline, not a gag about taking it to an extreme. We already have Beige Prose and Laconic Wiki for that. -->


Adding more words to something doesn't justify it: in fact, [[Wall of Text|the more you write, the more they can't read]]. Avoid [[Word Cruft]], [[Purple Prose]] and empty descriptions in writing your examples or engaging in conversation.
Adding more words to something doesn't justify it: in fact, [[Wall of Text|the more you write, the more they can't read]]. Avoid [[Word Cruft]], [[Purple Prose]] and empty descriptions in writing your examples or engaging in conversation.

Latest revision as of 23:21, 1 October 2020

tl;dr

My liege, and madam, to expostulate
 What majesty should be, what duty is,
 What day is day, night night, and time is time,
 Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;
 Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
 And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
 I will be brief.

—Polonius, Hamlet
Brevity is... wit.
—Banner at a Reading Digest convention, The Simpsons, "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"

Which quote's more readable?


Adding more words to something doesn't justify it: in fact, the more you write, the more they can't read. Avoid Word Cruft, Purple Prose and empty descriptions in writing your examples or engaging in conversation.

Conversely, however, Zero Context Examples or a noun followed by "That is all/Enough said" is boring. The use of few words isn't witty when they're the same few words with no meaning pertaining to the subject.

This is the motto of Laconic. For use of this guideline as a trope, see Beige Prose.

Polonius does not follow his own advice. Most don't realize.

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