Conciseness is associated with brevity of expression.
Concise is something that has concision . This term (concision), for its part, comes from the Latin concīsus and is linked to economy of means and brevity to express a concept with precision and accuracy.
For example: “The judge asked the accused to be concise and limit himself to answering what was being asked” , “The writer was applauded after a concise speech in which he left no loose ends” , “Gómez, be “Be more concise with your answers, please.”
Concise in language
Conciseness, therefore, is usually associated with language and expression . There is no set number of words spoken to refer to conciseness, as certain explanations require further development. On the other hand, conciseness varies depending on the context.
If one person asks another what time it is, a concise response would be: “It's half past five.” On the other hand, if the subject answers: “When you started with your question it was 17 hours, 31 minutes and 4 seconds, but at this moment it is already 17 hours, 31 minutes and 15 seconds” , we will be faced with a not very concise answer.
A concise text avoids the superfluous.
Generation of meaning
It is possible to associate the concise with what is essential to generate meaning . Everything superfluous or accessory, therefore, escapes concision.
A dog can be defined as a “four-legged animal that barks” or as a “mammal that belongs to the canid family, is quadruped and communicates through barking.” Both expressions allow us to understand that we are talking about a dog, but the first is more concise. Although the expression “four-legged animal” is more concise, it can cause confusion since a cat, a cow or a horse are also quadrupedal animals.
The concise thing in literature
In the field of literature there is a concept known as linguistic economy , although some writers prefer linguistic savings . This notion is used to refer to those texts of a concise nature, where a lot is said with few words.
According to the theory of linguistic savings, every statement should try to offer the greatest amount of information using the fewest words possible , based on what is present in the context, which would help achieve the full meaning of the message .
In the "Decalogue of the good storyteller" created by Horacio Quiroga, the maxims of linguistic economy are expressed. Quiroga , one of the greatest storytellers in history, expressed that the author should not abuse the reader. Every story has to be the product of detailed work and must, therefore, be a novel purified of debris . Thus, Quiroga expressed the importance of being concise when writing a story.
The linguistic savings of the Yagans
The clearest example of linguistic savings, and which appears in the Guinness Book of Records , is a word of Yagan origin: mamihlapinatapai . According to the definition given by René Haurón , this word means nothing more and nothing less than "looking another person in the eyes, with the desire and hope that he or she will return a look at us, inviting us to perform together an action that "We are both waiting but neither of us dares to start."
The Yaganes were a group of indigenous people who inhabited Tierra del Fuego around 6,000 years ago. They were nomads who moved in canoes along the estuary and fed on what they collected from the sea. Regarding his language , he was characterized by putting into practice with great perfection the concept of linguistic savings : long words that brought together various ideas. Although we don't know much about this population today, could you say that you have never suffered a mamihlapinatapai ?