Today I learned something very neat about the origins of the word "laconic" (meaning "using very few words", "brief", or "terse"), and thought I'd share it here! Taken directly from onestopenglish.com:
The word laconic is derived from a region of ancient Greece
called Laconia, the capital of which was the city of Sparta. The
inhabitants of Sparta were famed for their warfare but also for the
economy of their speech. The story goes that Philip II of Macedon once
called on the Spartans to surrender, sending them the following message:
"if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay
your people, and raze your city”. The Spartans, in typical laconic style, sent a reply containing just one word: “If”.
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