Short and clear.
Paddy3118
My question is, I would like to find a single word that means both
short and clear such as succinct - my current favourite, which I think
has more of an accent on clarity than the word brief.
I have looked them both up using AskOxford.com and
dictionary.reference.com, which both seem to link clarity more to the
word succinct.
Can you tell me of other words more suited?
Thanks, Paddy.
tony cooper
"Succinct" is defined as "expressed in few words; concise; terse".
That would meet your requirement of "short and clear". Thesaurus.com,
at http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/succinct offers some
synonyms.
Beware of these, though. Synonyms sometimes carry the baggage of
connotation. "Blunt", "brusque", and "terse" are offered, but a
blunt, brusque, or terse reply may be succinct, but there is a
connotation of hostility with these words that "succinct" does not
have.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
cybercypher
Paddy3118
> Paddy3118 <paddy3...@googlemail.com> wrote
I should have said that yes, I have tried a thesaurus, Thesaurus.com.
It returns a broad wash of words that I am still considering but also
thought to ask here.
Paddy3118
> On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:21:21 -0800 (PST), Paddy3118
>
> >Hi, I am new to the group, but I did read the intro.
>
> >My question is, I would like to find a single word that means both
> >short and clear such as succinct - my current favourite, which I think
> >has more of an accent on clarity than the word brief.
>
> >I have looked them both up using AskOxford.com and
> >dictionary.reference.com, which both seem to link clarity more to the
> >word succinct.
>
> >Can you tell me of other words more suited?
>
> "Succinct" is defined as "expressed in few words; concise; terse".
> That would meet your requirement of "short and clear". Thesaurus.com,
> synonyms.
>
> Beware of these, though. Synonyms sometimes carry the baggage of
> connotation. "Blunt", "brusque", and "terse" are offered, but a
> blunt, brusque, or terse reply may be succinct, but there is a
> connotation of hostility with these words that "succinct" does not
> have.
>
> --
>
> Tony Cooper
> Orlando, FL
Thanks Tony, its the connotations that made me ask here as
Thesaurus.com is very good at giving many synonyms but you have to
constantly switch to dictionaries to weed out the unsuitable ones,
which takes time.
John O'Flaherty
Here's the unsuccinct "succinct" entry from Moby Thesaurus -
succinct,Spartan,abbreviated,abridged,aphoristic,
aposiopestic,axiomatic,blunt,brief,brusque,clipped,
close,compact,compendious,compressed,concise,condensed,
contracted,crisp,curt,curtal,curtate,cut,decurtate,
docked,elliptic,epigrammatic,formulaic,formulistic,
gnomic,instantaneous,laconic,little,low,pithy,platitudinous,
pointed,proverbial,pruned,pungent,reserved,sententious,short,
short and sweet,shortened,summary,synopsized,synoptic,taciturn,
terse,tight,to the point,transient,truncated
Just choose the best one.
--
John
cybercypher
I can't think of a single word that equally connotes both brevity and
clarity. My favorites are succinct, concise, and pithy. The best
three-word phrase in the list provided in John O'Flaherty's post is
"to the point".
Brevity often causes a lack of clarity because of the density of the
information contained in a concise paragraph. I don't think it's
redundant to say "clear and concise" or "clear and succinct" or
"pithy and clear". It's so much easier to be brief than it is to be
clear. OTOH, asking for lexical economy seems to me to imply an
acceptable level of clarity. Therefore, I agree with John O'Flaherty:
"Just choose the best one." He means, of course, choose the one you
like most.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan.
"It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally
shared; ergo, they are not in the public domain." Anymouse.
Mike Lyle
Sensible. If what you want to describe is clever or memorable as well as
clear and concise, there's also "pithy".
--
Mike.
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
Robin Bignall
<mike_l...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>Paddy3118 wrote:
>> On Nov 22, 6:04 am, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:21:21 -0800 (PST), Paddy3118
>>>
>>> <paddy3...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi, I am new to the group, but I did read the intro.
>>>
>>>> My question is, I would like to find a single word that means both
>>>> short and clear such as succinct - my current favourite, which I
>>>> think has more of an accent on clarity than the word brief.
>>>
>>>> I have looked them both up using AskOxford.com and
>>>> dictionary.reference.com, which both seem to link clarity more to
>>>> the word succinct.
>>>
>>>> Can you tell me of other words more suited?
>>>
>>> "Succinct" is defined as "expressed in few words; concise; terse".
>>> That would meet your requirement of "short and clear".
>>> Thesaurus.com,
>>> athttp://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/succinctoffers some
>>> synonyms.
>>>
>>> Beware of these, though. Synonyms sometimes carry the baggage of
>>> connotation. "Blunt", "brusque", and "terse" are offered, but a
>>> blunt, brusque, or terse reply may be succinct, but there is a
>>> connotation of hostility with these words that "succinct" does not
>>> have.
>>>
>> Thanks Tony, its the connotations that made me ask here as
>> Thesaurus.com is very good at giving many synonyms but you have to
>> constantly switch to dictionaries to weed out the unsuitable ones,
>> which takes time.
>
>Sensible. If what you want to describe is clever or memorable as well as
>clear and concise, there's also "pithy".
>
To me, a pithy remark may be short and clear, but it also has
connotations of being antagonistic and possibly even insulting.
COD says "Terse and vigorously expressive".
--
Robin
Herts, England
tony cooper
To me, a pithy remark (provided it is not uttered by someone who has
been drinking heavily) is one that is straight to the point and makes
the point well. No insult involved unless the point itself is
insulting.
Steve Hayes
wrote:
An epigram is pithy. It need be no more antagonistic than an epithet.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Paddy3118
> On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:38:10 +0000, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com>
Epigram:
http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=epigram+&title=21st
The link mentions sarcastic which rules it out.
Epithet has death associations that would sink any point I was trying
to make.
But thanks all the same :-)
- Paddy.
Steve Hayes
wrote:
>On Nov 24, 5:05 am, Steve Hayes <hayesm...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:38:10 +0000, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:03:08 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
>> ><mike_lyle...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>> >>Sensible. If what you want to describe is clever or memorable as well as
>> >>clear and concise, there's also "pithy".
>>
>> >To me, a pithy remark may be short and clear, but it also has
>> >connotations of being antagonistic and possibly even insulting.
>> >COD says "Terse and vigorously expressive".
>>
>> An epigram is pithy. It need be no more antagonistic than an epithet.
>Epigram:
> http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=epigram+&title=21st
>The link mentions sarcastic which rules it out.
>Epithet has death associations that would sink any point I was trying
>to make.
An epigram is a witty, often paradoxical remark, concisely expressed.
An epithet has nothing to do with death (perhaps you are confusing it with an
epitaph), but is a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for a
person's name. It can be, but is not necessarily insulting. Stalin and Tito
are epithets, as is "the Conqueror" in "William the Conqueror".
The point is that, like epithets, epigrams and pithy sayings may be, but are
not necessarily insulting, but they are short and clear.
pithy adj terse and full of meaning or subtance.
LFS
I'm intrigued: what are the death associations with epithet?
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
Mike Lyle
Half-way through the epithalamion a cold hand seized his heart as he
twigged the full significance of "...till death do you part". Ever
since, he hasn't been able to stand words beginning with "epith-".
tony cooper
<la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
>I'm intrigued: what are the death associations with epithet?
Most of the people in recorded history who have used epithets are now
dead. It's a fact.
Donna Richoux
> Paddy3118 wrote:
> > Epigram:
> >
http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?qu
ery=epigram+&title=21st
> > The link mentions sarcastic which rules it out.
> > Epithet has death associations that would sink any point I was trying
> > to make.
> >
> > But thanks all the same :-)
> >
>
> I'm intrigued: what are the death associations with epithet?
Epitaph?
Paddy3118
> Paddy3118 wrote:
> > On Nov 24, 5:05 am, Steve Hayes <hayesm...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:38:10 +0000, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com>
> >>wrote:
>
> >>>On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:03:08 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
> >>><mike_lyle...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >>>>Sensible. If what you want to describe is clever or memorable as well as
> >>>>clear and concise, there's also "pithy".
>
> >>>To me, a pithy remark may be short and clear, but it also has
> >>>connotations of being antagonistic and possibly even insulting.
> >>>COD says "Terse and vigorously expressive".
>
> >>An epigram is pithy. It need be no more antagonistic than an epithet.
>
> >>--
> >>Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
> >>Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
> >>Blog:http://methodius.blogspot.com
> >>E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
>
> > Epigram:
> > The link mentions sarcastic which rules it out.
> > Epithet has death associations that would sink any point I was trying
> > to make.
>
> > But thanks all the same :-)
>
> I'm intrigued: what are the death associations with epithet?
>
> --
> Laura
> (emulate St. George for email)
Okay, I got that mixed up. (I'll just hide in the far corner and wish
for invisibility)
:-)
LFS
Happens to us all at some point, Paddy - don't let it put you off.
<whisper> But dump the smileys - OK?
Paddy3118
Ahh, the smileys.
Well I'm new to the group and don't want to offend anyone so it was
defensive typing.
I'll close without a smiley this time.
(But I did have an urge to add one for some reason).
Oleg Lego
It's not an easy habit to break. It gets easier with time. Beware,
however, of groups in which smileys are preferred, if not required, to
perform the function of sledgehammer, punctuating your humourous
musings.
Peter Duncanson
What are accepted are things like the "<whisper>" used above by
Laura.
These constructions can be used in place of smileys, but not too
often.
The benefit of <something> is that the word "something" is
explicit and does not leave the reader puzzling over an
unfamiliar collection of punctuation marks.
Some people never use them. Others, like me, use them sometimes.
I've never tried to estimate which are the most frequent of
these comments, but I reckon that <applause> is in the running
for the lead. It is often used as a response to a particularly
impressive post.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Paddy3118
Thanks again to all. I've just blogged about the word I'll use in
future, concise.
http://paddy3118.blogspot.com/2007/11/python-concise.html
- Paddy.
cybercypher
[...]
> future, concise.
>
> http://paddy3118.blogspot.com/2007/11/python-concise.html
You might want to edit your comment from "Try Python, its concise" to
"Try Python. It's concise".
Paddy3118
> Paddy3118 <paddy3...@googlemail.com> wrote
Whoops.
Fixed.
Ta!
R H Draney
I would have fixed the apostrophe thing but changed the comma to a
semicolon....r
--
"He come in the night when one sleep on a bed.
With a hand he have the basket and foods."
- David Sedaris explains the Easter rabbit
Mike Lyle
> Paddy3118 filted:
>>
>> On Nov 25, 12:04 pm, cybercypher <cybercyphe...@aol.com> wrote:
>>> You might want to edit your comment from "Try Python, its concise"
>>> to "Try Python. It's concise".
>>
>> Whoops.
>> Fixed.
>>
>> Ta!
>
> I would have fixed the apostrophe thing but changed the comma to a
> semicolon....r
I'd have used a colon: it's clearer.
Skitt
> R H Draney wrote:
>> Paddy3118 filted:
>>>> You might want to edit your comment from "Try Python, its concise"
>>>> to "Try Python. It's concise".
>>>
>>> Whoops.
>>> Fixed.
>>>
>>> Ta!
>>
>> I would have fixed the apostrophe thing but changed the comma to a
>> semicolon....r
>
> I'd have used a colon: it's clearer.
... and I would have used a dash.
--
Skitt
R H Draney
I'm put in mind of countless comic books where each of three superheroes has a
unique power, where each of those powers (and no others!) are exactly what is
required to carry out the mission at hand....r
Roland Hutchinson
> Skitt filted:
>>
>>Mike Lyle wrote:
>>> R H Draney wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I would have fixed the apostrophe thing but changed the comma to a
>>>> semicolon....r
>>>
>>> I'd have used a colon: it's clearer.
>>
>>... and I would have used a dash.
>
> I'm put in mind of countless comic books where each of three superheroes
> has a unique power, where each of those powers (and no others!) are
> exactly what is required to carry out the mission at hand....r
It's Copyeditorman -- strange, blue-pencil wielding freelancer from another
dimension -- with the power -- to -- cloud -- men's -- prose!
--
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
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