Random "Laconic"

[satan1]

Hello all, my first post in the lounge.

Since we seem to have some language buffs around our board I thought I would ask about our use of the word "Laconic".

I have always been taken to believe that the word meant laid-back, almost disinterested, easy going etc. Often used to describe athletes who had great skills but appeared to lack endeavor.

For some reason today I decided to look it up in the dictionary and was surprised to be unable to find any meaning listed to support what I believed the word to mean.

All meanings i found were along the lines of:

la·con·ic​

adjective​

using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply.​

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Does any one know how it entered our vocabulary to mean differently when describing sportsmen? Is it an Australian use?​

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I wonder if it was originally used to describe players that only looked interested for a brief period of time and evolved to take on more meaning over time.

 

[GilPender]

Yeah, this surprised me too.
In a literal sense, it implies efficiency, but this is transposed with deficiency in a sporting/physical sense ie the efficiency of movement lacks an expected intensity or physical application.

Languages are fascinating.

 

[zucchini]

Has always had the lazy element attatched to it in football terms.

Not sure i can recall a specific commentator using it.

 

[Garf]

Has always had the lazy element attatched to it in football terms.

Not sure i can recall a specific commentator using it.

I often heard 'lackadaisical' in decades gone by. The means lazy. Oh how I miss 3LO 3UZ 3AW 3DB all having different games on at once

Laconic is a Greek word describing the people of Lakon (Sparta) who were notoriously terse in speech. So says Google anyhoo.