Make Your Point, Jr. > Words in ABC Order > curt

Study the word CURT: (Source) In Latin, curtus means "cut short: shortened, cut off, or incomplete." That's where we got our English word "curt," which describes people who cut their own words short in a mean, rude way. They shorten what they say so that they barely have to speak to you at all. In other words, when people are being curt, they're being rude by speaking with as few words as possible. (Source) If you're feeling grumpy, and your friends come along and ask you for a favor, you might give a curt answer: "No. Don't wanna." (Source) If you're annoyed with your siblings—maybe they keep taking your things without asking—you might get curt with them. "Quit that. Get out of my room." (Source) And if your teacher is a bad mood one morning, instead of saying "Good morning, class! Let's all get out our notebooks and start the day!" then she might be curt instead: "Notebooks out. Get busy." (Source) Usually, we talk about curt people and their curt comments, replies, and instructions. But people can even be curt as they say zero words: they can give you a curt nod, or a curt shake of the head, or a curt gesture. (Source) Lastly, if you know someone named Curt, Kurt, or Curtis, you might be wondering if his name is related to our word "curt." Nope! (That would be weird, right? Because who would name their baby after a mean, rude way to treat people?!) Your friend's name is probably either derived from "Conrad," a Germanic name meaning "one who advises or counsels;" or from "Cortés," a Spanish name meaning "courtly, or courteous: well-bred and polite." And "polite" is practically the opposite of our word "curt"! (Source)   Make a flash card: You can write your own definition and choose your own picture, or copy mine. Term Definition Picture curt snippy and rude because you're saying too few words to people   Write your own sentence! You can use either of the two ideas I'll suggest, or you can invent your own. Include as much detail as you can! (Source)   Write a sentence with the word CURT: Remember: if you're being curt, you should be speaking more kindly, and speaking more, but instead you're saying very little at all. That's rude. Idea 1: "Instead of giving us a warm welcome, (someone) was curt, barking at us to (do something)." Idea 2: "When we asked if we could (do something), (someone) only gave us a curt (nod or shake) of the head." You can type in here. When you're done, copy and paste your sentence wherever you'd like it to go.