How to Read “A long speech is the seed of yawns”
Nagakōjō wa akubi no tane
Meaning of “A long speech is the seed of yawns”
“A long speech is the seed of yawns” means that lengthy talks bore listeners.
No matter how good the content is, if a speech goes on too long, the audience loses focus. Yawns naturally follow. This proverb captures this universal human response.
This saying applies to meetings, presentations, and everyday conversations. It teaches that brevity matters most when you want to communicate something important.
The longer a speech drags on, the more the core message gets buried. Your most important points never reach the listener’s heart.
This truth holds even today. In our information-overloaded age, concise explanations have become more valuable than ever.
Long speeches don’t just steal people’s time. They also weaken your own message. It’s a double loss.
Origin and Etymology
No clear written records explain the origin of this proverb. However, the structure of the phrase offers interesting clues.
The term “nagakōjō” (long speech) likely came from the world of theater and variety shows. “Kōjō” means a formal greeting or explanation given before an audience.
During the Edo period, street performers and theater owners used speeches to attract customers. These speeches played a crucial role in drawing crowds.
But when these speeches ran too long, they had the opposite effect. This practical experience likely gave birth to the proverb.
The phrase “seed of yawns” is also fascinating. “Seed” refers to the cause or origin of something.
The proverb compares boredom causing yawns to a seed sprouting into a plant. This metaphor perfectly captures how long talks inevitably produce boredom.
From the Edo period through the Meiji era, merchants and officials disliked rambling explanations. This proverb spread because it resonated with people’s daily experiences.
Interesting Facts
Yawning is actually a physical response to compensate for oxygen shortage in the brain.
We yawn more when bored because lack of stimulation reduces brain activity. This slows oxygen consumption and blood flow.
When long speeches make you yawn, your brain is signaling “I need more stimulation!”
In Edo period variety halls, storytellers watched carefully for yawning audience members. They would change the story’s direction or speed up the pace.
Yawns served as honest feedback from listeners. They gave speakers important information about their performance.
Usage Examples
- The manager’s speech went on forever. I truly understood that a long speech is the seed of yawns.
- Let’s keep the presentation under ten minutes. After all, a long speech is the seed of yawns.
Universal Wisdom
“A long speech is the seed of yawns” contains deep insights about human communication.
Why do people dislike long talks? It combines a biological fact with a social feeling. Human attention has limits, and we want to respect others’ time.
Interestingly, this proverb focuses on length, not content. Even wonderful content loses value if it’s too long.
This reveals limits in human cognitive ability. It also teaches that form matters as much as content.
This proverb has survived because many people become “the long talker” themselves. When we speak, we have so much to say that we go on too long.
But when we’re listening, we feel the pain clearly. This gap between perspectives is a timeless human trait.
Our ancestors understood that effective communication isn’t about quantity. It’s about quality that reaches the listener’s heart.
Brevity shows consideration for others. It’s proof of true communication skill.
When AI Hears This
Shannon, the founder of information theory, defined “information entropy.” It measures how unpredictable something is.
For example, “Tomorrow will be sunny, rainy, snowy, or stormy” has high information content. But “Tomorrow will be sunny, sunny, sunny, or sunny” has essentially zero information.
The human brain consumes lots of attention resources only when new information arrives. For predictable repetition, it uses minimal energy.
Long speeches trigger yawns because of exactly this principle. Repeated points and wordy expressions create a state where the brain can “completely predict what comes next.”
In information theory, when redundancy approaches 100 percent, information entropy becomes zero. The brain judges “not worth processing further” and switches to energy-saving mode.
This physiological response is the yawn.
Interestingly, data compression algorithms work on the exact same principle. Compression technologies like ZIP files find repetitive patterns and decide “same information, so record it just once.”
In other words, a long speech is the kind of text where compression algorithms would say “this compresses really well.”
The human feeling of boredom is actually a rational judgment by a sophisticated information processing system.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the essence of communication skills.
Social media favors short posts. Videos are trending shorter. People’s attention spans keep shrinking. The ability to communicate concisely matters more than ever.
When you want to convey something, ask yourself first. “What do I really want to say?” “Does the listener need this information?”
Often, we add unnecessary explanations out of anxiety. But if we trust our audience, simple words are enough.
In business and daily life, people who speak concisely earn trust. It shows they respect others’ time.
Talking at length sometimes becomes a way to fill our own anxiety. If you’re truly confident, you can hit the core point with few words.
Try being conscious of this starting today. Pause before speaking. Choose only the words you truly need.
This practice will dramatically transform your communication.
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