Brevity and Attractiveness: Misreporting Linguistic Science

By Geoffrey Pullum. The Daily Telegraph recently carried a science report suggesting that logorrhea might damage men’s sexual chances. “Why silent types get the girl,” said the headline: “Study finds that men who use shorter average word lengths and concise sentences are preferred, while men who use verbose language are deemed less attractive.
”Apparently the “Hollywood cliché that the strong, silent type always gets the girl” has been scientifically validated. Read more...