How many words

do you need to get the message across?
One of the many good qualities my father displays is a capacity to laugh at himself. One of the things he knows about himself is that, in his words, he is 'too wordy'. He will write twenty words when I will write ten.
He has a degree in English literature (with a sub in Latin) and he has read more than most people I know. Is it this fact that causes him to use so many words? I do not know.
When he needs to write something like a non-personal letter he will often come to me with his rough version and say, "Tighten it up." I take it away and come back with something half the length. He shakes his head and signs the bottom of the letter without a murmur. We will often work through a personal condolence note together. He does not write much else these days.
I think his problem might be that he used to write what is known as "patter" - the running commentary used by entertainers like magicians. That depends on being able to say a great deal in order to distract the audience from what you are doing with your hands or the equipment in them. You learn to use almost as many misdirectives as a politician in that setting.
What puzzles me however is that my father has male friends who are just as "wordy" as he is.
He has one male friend, a very good and caring man, whose voice is permanently husky - an indication of how much he talks. You get all the smallest details from this man. He branches out and bounces back to the main topic again - like a monkey swinging up a tree. He has a cousin who will talk for more than an hour on the 'phone. His best friend also spent more than an hour on the 'phone last night.
I sometimes take messages for the 'circle of care' my father is involved in - and then have to pass them on to the next person in the circle. I took one yesterday. It was long and involved.
I knew who the writer had to be. As I was passing it on to the next person, a woman, she said,
"I can guess who wrote this one. You know I really do think men use more words than women."
I think she might be right.