All The Tropes:Brevity Is Wit: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''My liege, and madam, to expostulate<br /> |
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What majesty should be, what duty is,<br /> |
What majesty should be, what duty is,<br /> |
Revision as of 09:36, 31 January 2014
My liege, and madam, to expostulate |
Brevity is... wit.
—Banner at a Reading Digest convention, The Simpsons, "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"
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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.