Help For Translation "essere Di Poche Parole"

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Carlotta

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Jul 9, 2007
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Someone Can Help Me To Translate The Italian Expression "essere Di Poche Parole" Please ? :)
Thanks A Lot,
Karla
 

mykwyner

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In English we have two excellent adjectives that describe "to be of few words." They are laconic and taciturn.
 
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In English we have two excellent adjectives that describe "to be of few words." They are laconic and taciturn.

Hello mykwyner,
We have those words in Italian as well (you just have to add an "o" to form the Italian word, "laconico" and "taciturno"). But in Italian the former sounds a bit formal and is usually referred to a piece of writing, whereas what Carlotta was looking for is something which may refer to someone's character or behavior. "Laconico" also conveys the idea of something very concise, i.e. a reply in which the respondent says a lot of things in few words.
Does this apply to English as well?

The latter is commonly used in Italian as an equivalent of "essere di poche parole", which is exactly what she was looking for, so it's fine.

What about untalkative?
 
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