Why were the Spartans known as the men of few words?

Answer 1

I won't go into Spartan tactics (since thats not what you asked, although I will say that some of what is posted on Wikipedia is wrong, Spartans were not the only ones who perfected the phalanx and it was, eventually, the tactic that led to their own downfall. Regardless...).
The word "sparse" is said to be linked to Spartan. The Spartans were great fans of having "sparse" everything. Their houses were bare, they saw no need for art, ate incredibly bland food, and were in no way decadent. They didn't even carry money the same way most societies did. Their money was so large and cumbersome, no one wanted to carry it around (which was sort of the point of the matter). Anyway, Spartans were the very opposite of their great enemy: the Athenians. And they were not into philosophy, wisdom, art, or anything that took away from their military or military training. As such, one can assume that they were also not prone to large speeches or of many words (as the Athenians were).
I'll leave you with an old Spartan tale that might illustrate a man of few words:
A young Spartan soldier was out on patrol and came upon a fox. He decided he wanted to keep the fox and take it how with him. This was not allowed, however, so when he tried to smuggle it into the city, he had to hide it under his cloak. He was stopped by another soldier on the way in, however. (Now one would think that any person would know better than to just grab a random wild animal and take it home with him, but apparently not this soldier.) The fox, in an effort to get free, starts gnawing at the soldier and literally eating the mans side. The young soldier, however, does not utter a word or complaint, that is how great his discipline is. It isn't until he falls over dead, the fox having eaten a hole through his side, that anyone knew the fox was there in the first place.
Its an odd story, I admit, but one that was used to show a Spartans discipline and, I suppose, his use of few words.

Answer 2

The only reference I can find of the Spartans being known as men of few words is from the movie "300".

I wouldn't say that movie was a useful historical resource.

So, it's more than likely a figment of the movie makers imagination.

Answer 3

Possibly because they had that warrior's attitude of fight first, ask questions later mentality so by the time everyone else in the opposite camp was maimed, retreated or dead no one was around to hear them voice their opinions or complaints.
Here's what I found after googling Spartans from Wikepedia
TRAINING of Spartans
Fearlessness
After birth and until the age of 7, when they would be put into the groups and were told to never fear anything. As well, it was taught the greatest honor to be bestowed upon you was a death in the heats of battle. To this, one Spartan mother sent their son off to battle with the wish of ταν ή επί τας (bearing your shield or on it), in other words, "either return victorious or return dead".

TACTICS of Spartan Army Warfare=

The Spartans were a well trained Phalanx army, using the expert tactics of the phalanx which lay waste to superior numbers. Using one is like putting weights on a pulley to lift a weight: If you have one very heavy weight, it offsets two small weights. Quality was the big weight, and so in Spartan philosophy, Who Needs Numbers? This idea enabled them to do something unprecedented: Fight to the death. They would simply march at the enemy or hold their ground, either way they simply let the spears do the talking. Their style of combat influenced the Thebans and Macedonians.

Spartan TACTICS: The Spartans made full use of the phalanx, a formation composed of many soldiers in close formation with interlocking shields and outstretched spears, in a straight line. This formation was only perfected by Sparta, other cities had difficulty in maintaining the line for long.[2] This provided an almost impenetrable wall of spears as if one man fell the next soldier in his file would come forward to take his place. The phalanx was almost immobile, however, and the general method of turning was for the front rank, to form a battle-line and raise their pikes to 90 degrees and turn in unison, when the rest of the army would follow suite. Despite this, for hundreds of years wars in Greece were decided by human hedgehogs having a push at each other.[5] Casualties were often in the realms of 5% as the army would often flee when its leader was impaled on an enemy spear.[5]

Answer 4

They were taught little about the outside world and desired their warriors to be able to tell even less of the Spartan way.

Answer 5

They were supposed to be so tough that they wouldn't complain about anything.

Answer 6

because if u talk to much u get beat up.