A Belgian friend of mine living in London described an acquaintance as being a woman of few but wise words. She asked if there was a word in English to simultaneously convey both qualities. I haven't been able to think of one. The closest I can get is taciturn or laconic, neither of which necessarily implies sagacity. Any help?
rare?
/run and hide emoticon
lacosapient adj. of few but wise words.
ORIGIN via Latin from Greek Lakonikos, from Lakon ‘Laconia, Sparta,’ the Spartans being known for their terse speech and Latin sapient- ‘being wise,’ from the verb sapere.
Okay. I made that up.
Can we be realistic about it? It's not that hard to keep your words wise when you use few.
I would call her a WWofeW. (Wise Woman of few Words).
Why does the owl represent wisdom? That big-eye stare, immobility and silence.
... the Spartans being known for their terse speech ...
heh
And their soft, doe-like eyes.
Aww-ww...she is great, isn't she?
So long as I live, I will never understand the spelling of apophthegm.
apophthegm is but a variant of apothegm, but stems from Greek apophthegma; an apothegm is a maxim, which is a terse pithy saying.
I don't think our wanted word relates all that much to maxims.
Well, you all made me laugh this cold Chicago morning as the first El of the day awoke me [grumpily] in my hotel. (The next six passed by in the succeeding two minutes.
I particularly like lacosapient. I only saw the definition at first. "Okay, I made that up" was revealed only upon scrolling down.
Aphoristic, pithy and compendious seem to more imply quick wit rather than wisdom necessarily. Prudent seems to have more of a sense of caution than wisdom and laconic could refer to the farmer who confines his speech to yep and nope.
Knowing I haven't overlooked the obvious helps. I vote for coining one. It would be a lot more useful than a lot of coinage. That said, lacosapient might be just a bit stilted.