"We don't communicate in full sentences anyway. We don't need all those words"
About this Quote
Shepard Smith points to a truth about how people process information, especially in live, visual media. Everyday speech is full of fragments, pauses, and shared context; we finish each others thoughts, gesture, and fill in gaps without noticing. Print demands full sentences. Conversation does not. Broadcast news lives closer to conversation than to print, so scripts and on-screen banners compress. Police search for suspect lands faster than The police are searching for the suspect. Fewer syllables, same meaning, lower cognitive load. Viewers catch it between glances, while the video and the anchor’s tone supply what the missing words would have carried.
The line anticipates and validates our digital habits too. Texts, tweets, push alerts, and captions favor the telegraphic. We read on phones, in motion, with limited attention. Emojis, timing, and thread context function like body language, allowing meaning to survive with fewer words. Smith’s confidence in brevity rests on that ecology of cues: images, cadence, repetition, and shared knowledge.
There are risks. Cutting words can cut nuance. Passive constructions thrive in tight space, obscuring agency: mistakes were made, shots fired. Headlines that shave syntax can shave truth, flattening complex stories into clickable fragments. The soundbite era rewards punch over depth, and the fewer the words, the more power each one wields to mislead.
But he is not praising sloppiness. He is voicing the discipline of writing for the ear. Clean, short lines are not lazy; they are edited. They respect the pace of breaking news and the way human attention actually works. The craft lies in choosing the right few words, and in knowing when to add the missing context through visuals, sequencing, and follow-ups.
The observation is both practical and provocative: say less to say it better, but only if you understand what the audience will supply and what only you can.
The line anticipates and validates our digital habits too. Texts, tweets, push alerts, and captions favor the telegraphic. We read on phones, in motion, with limited attention. Emojis, timing, and thread context function like body language, allowing meaning to survive with fewer words. Smith’s confidence in brevity rests on that ecology of cues: images, cadence, repetition, and shared knowledge.
There are risks. Cutting words can cut nuance. Passive constructions thrive in tight space, obscuring agency: mistakes were made, shots fired. Headlines that shave syntax can shave truth, flattening complex stories into clickable fragments. The soundbite era rewards punch over depth, and the fewer the words, the more power each one wields to mislead.
But he is not praising sloppiness. He is voicing the discipline of writing for the ear. Clean, short lines are not lazy; they are edited. They respect the pace of breaking news and the way human attention actually works. The craft lies in choosing the right few words, and in knowing when to add the missing context through visuals, sequencing, and follow-ups.
The observation is both practical and provocative: say less to say it better, but only if you understand what the audience will supply and what only you can.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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