mca blog

REST components
perform actions
on a resource [1]
by using a representation [2]
to capture the current or intended state of that resource
and transferring that representation
between components.

[1] Representation

A sequence of bytes plus representation metadata to describe those bytes

[2] Resource

A conceptual mapping to a set of entities, not the entity that corresponds to the mapping at any particular point in time.

OK, i cheated, 27 words without the footnote items.

btw, these are direct quotes from section 5.2.1 of Fielding's dissertation. nothing novel or anything.