A "laconic phrase" is a very concise or terse statement, named after Laconia (a.k.a. Lacedaemon [Greek Λακεδαίμων]), a polis of ancient Greece (and region of modern Greece) surrounding the city of Sparta proper. In common usage, Sparta referred both to Lacedaemon and Sparta. Similarly, 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." This can be contrasted with the "Attic salt" or "Attic wit", the refined, poignant, delicate humour of Sparta's chief rival Athens. Spartans focused less than other Greeks on the development of education, arts, and literature.

Some view this as having contributed to the characteristically blunt Laconian speech. However, Socrates, in Plato's dialogue Protagoras seems to reject the idea that Spartans' economy with words was simply a consequence of poor literary education: "...they conceal their wisdom, and pretend to be blockheads, so that they may seem to be superior only because of their prowess in battle ...This is how you may know that I am speaking the truth and that the Spartans are the best educated in philosophy and speaking: if you talk to any ordinary Spartan, he seems to be stupid, but eventually, like some expert marksman, he shoots in some brief remark that proves you to be only a child." Socrates was known for admiring Spartan laws, as many Athenians did too, but modern scholars have doubted the seriousness of Socrates' remarks in the above passage about the Spartans' secret love of philosophy.

Still, two Spartans - Myson of Chen and Chilon of Sparta - were traditionally counted among the Seven Sages of Greece to whom pithy sayings were attributed.

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