Brevity

[brinstar]

Main Entry: brev·i·ty
Pronunciation: \ˈbre-və-tē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural brev·i·ties
Etymology: Latin brevitas, from brevis
Date: 15th century
: shortness of duration; especially : shortness or conciseness of expression



Can one be brevitous on a serious topic and still

• effectively communicate his/her thoughts/beliefs/understanding
• be taken seriously

?



or, to put it another way:

Whether you consider rhetoric (by which i mean: the ability to explain one's viewpoints effectively) to be an art or a knack, do you think that brevitous offerings on a topic are themselves

• proof of one's relative ignorance regarding the topic being discussed

or

• indicative of one's command of language, which allows one to express complex viewpoints concisely and thus with a great economy of words

[Iccarra]

Someone's been into the Reader's Digest....

[brinstar]

no

[Maeya]

or, to put it another way:

Whether you consider rhetoric (by which i mean: the ability to explain one's viewpoints effectively) to be an art or a knack, do you think that brevitous offerings on a topic are themselves

* proof of one's relative ignorance regarding the topic being discussed


or

* indicative of one's command of language, which allows one to express complex viewpoints concisely and thus with a great economy of words

Either, but typically not both. I've read very eloquent thoughts on a topic that summed up the matter neatly in 2-3 sentences, where it would have taken me twice that many to elaborate on my point. I've also ready posts where they very obviously didn't know what they were talking about. Depends on the person.

[Tossica]

If I can't sum it up in 3 words, one of which is always "fuck", then I don't usually respond.

[leah]

nono, someone is taking a rhetoric class hehe

[Tikker]

brevity doesn't usually carry the connotation of ignorance

[Evermore]

yes

[Lionking]

Mindia

[Drem]

depends .... you need to exude knowledge w/ brevity if you don't want it to be labeled ignorant

also you have to consider the crowd you're communicating to because shorter statements leave a lot of wiggle room for misinterpretation

[Tossica]

Fuck this thread.

[Evermore]

Fuck this thread.