Verbose is a relative thing. `copy` is an intuitive name, `cp` not so much. Likewise, it's a lot easier to remember how to do something like copy /exclude=* .bak [.work] [.prod] (that space after the asterisk shouldn't be there but markdown) than the equivalent command in a Unix shell, apparently:
You realize all that has a huge IF you are a native english speaker, right?
the glob stuff is a case of power vs convenience. but you can do very similar with bash [] or {} syntax.
not being apologist, but I like unix approach of blurring the lines of a computer user and programmer. It makes everyone up their game both ways. Users being more demanding, and code being more accessible.
Which is not to say there aren't things I like about unix. The ability to chain commands through pipes is very useful (assuming that the program is pipe-friendly), and the syntax for directories in unix feels more comfortable than the same syntax in VMS and both are by far much better than the hot mess which is the DOS/Windows shell.
alias copy_files_from_one_place_to_another=cp
this tells me short names aren't a problem to begin with. And everyone would have the same discoverability problems with longer ones.