I enjoy the smart use/ play of words.
"300" happens to be one of my favourite movies. Besides the chromatically-tinted visual effects and the beautifully-choreographed action sequences, the movie contains some interestingly witty dialogues which I enjoyed tremendously (amongst the messages of freedom, loyalty, camaraderie, discipline, patriotism etc the film attempts to convey).I happen to discover today that such witty sentences used by the Spartans in the movie are actually known as Laconic Phrases.As defined in Wikipedia:A "laconic phrase" is a very concise or terse statement, named after Laconia... a laconism is a figure of speech in which someone uses very few words to express an idea, in keeping with the Spartan reputation for austerity. This may be used for efficiency (like in military jargon), for philosophical reasons (especially among thinkers who believe in minimalism, such as Stoics), or for better disarming a long, pompous speech (the most famous example being at the Battle of Thermopylae). The Spartans were especially famous for their dry wit, which we now know as "laconic humour."
For example:In the movie (and in real history, I think), preceding the Battle of Thermopylae, the Spartan Dienekes was told the Persian archers were so numerous that when they fired their volleys, their arrows would blot out the sun. He responded with "So much the better, we'll fight in the shade".Another example:When Leonidas, the Spartan King, was in charge of guarding the narrow mountain pass at Thermopylae with just 7,000 Greek men against the invading Persian army, Xerxes, the Persian King, offered to spare his men if they gave up their arms. Leonidas replied "Come and take them".
One more:
An anecdote has it that when Philip II (of Macedonia and father of Alexandra the
Great) sent a message to Sparta saying "If I enter Laconia, I will level Sparta to the ground," the Spartans responded with the single, terse reply: "If."Really cool!
