I was just responding to your comment :) I know what laconic means and that word jarred for me too. I thought the writer might be trying to find an adjective to describe a town in the same way we might say that it was 'sleepy' or 'bustling' which obviously doesn't refer to the bricks and mortar. Maybe the town is concise in words to the point of curtness / impoliteness? But that might be a stretch, I don't know, was just responding to your observation.
this is one of very few Vittles essays I have found a bit drab and unconvincing, more a lay of the land of white australian food culture than anything more insightful.
Not sure the thesis stands up to rational scrutiny — and a town cannot be laconic. But I enjoyed the read.
The inhabitants didn't really speak to one another?
Not sure of your point? Laconic means speaking concisely or briefly. Townspeople might speak thus but not bricks and mortar.
I was just responding to your comment :) I know what laconic means and that word jarred for me too. I thought the writer might be trying to find an adjective to describe a town in the same way we might say that it was 'sleepy' or 'bustling' which obviously doesn't refer to the bricks and mortar. Maybe the town is concise in words to the point of curtness / impoliteness? But that might be a stretch, I don't know, was just responding to your observation.
this is one of very few Vittles essays I have found a bit drab and unconvincing, more a lay of the land of white australian food culture than anything more insightful.