Origin
This proverb comes from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, in 1602.
Explanation
This phrase has multiplicity of meanings. In one sense, it means that a good piece of writing, or a good speech should be brief and concise. However, in another sense, it implies that a funny speech should be short; otherwise, it tends to lose its flavour. On the other hand, if explored on word level, its meanings are quite interesting. The use of word “wit” also is debatable, which here refers to ‘knowledge’, ‘wisdom’, ‘intelligence’ and ‘humour’, as it was used for ‘wisdom’ and ‘intelligence’ during Shakespearean era. Hence, this phrase has won proverbial approval, which means that knowledge and intelligence need be expressed in as fewer words as possible.The real art of speaking (especially while speaking humorously) is to use as few words as possible. According to the Oxford dictionary, brevity (noun) means concise and exact use of words in writing or speech, as opposed to long complicated structures. The expression means that one must keep one’s speech or writing brief and to the point. In other words, if your speech or piece of writing is extremely long, people will lose interest in it by the time you get to the punch line.
Examples
I always make it a point to keep my speeches as short as possible. After all, brevity is the soul of wit.
At the party, Amita bored us with her terrible jokes. She probably doesn’t realise that brevity is the soul of wit.
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