Flashcards: Latin Derivatives

laconic  

 

using few words; expressing much in a few words; concise

 

According to an old tale, a young German doctor who had been admonished by his superior for including too many details in his surgery reports, next operated on the mayor of the town for appendicitis. His laconic report contained one word: "Bürgermeisterblinddarmentzündungsoperation (translation: mayoral appendectomy)." 

 

Latin root word: laconicus, laconica, laconicum - Laconian (from Laconia, the country whose capital was Sparta)

 

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