lyhyestä virsi kaunis
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Finnish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Literally, “out of brevity, [comes] a beautiful song”. The traditional proverb is used in the Kalevala (1835), but its further history is unclear.
Proverb
[edit]- brevity is the soul of wit (conciseness of expression is an essential characteristic of astute, perceptive, or witty remarks)
- 1888 [1835], trad., translated by John Martin Crawford, edited by Elias Lönnrot, Kalevala, poem XII:
- Hyvä on laulu loppuvasta, lyhyestä virsi kaunis
- Fine the singing quickly ending, Good the song that quickly ceases