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Hyperbole

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This article is about the term used in rhetoric. For the mathematical term, see Hyperbola.

Hyperbole (Template:PronEng hye-PER-buh-lee; "HYE-per-bowl" is a common mispronunciation) comes from ancient Greek "ὑπερβολή" (meaning excess or exaggeration) and is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is rarely meant to be taken literally.


Hyperbole is used to create emphasis. It is a literary device often used in poetry, and is frequently encountered in casual speech. It is also a visual technique in which a deliberate exaggeration of a particular part of an image is employed. An example is the exaggeration of a person's facial feature in a political cartoon.

Etymology

Derived from the Greek ὑπερβολή (literally 'overshooting' or 'excess'), it is a cognate of hyperbola. Antonyms to hyperbole include meiosis, litotes, understatement, and bathos (the 'let down' after a hyperbole in a phrase).

Examples

Some examples of use of hyperbole include:

  • These books weigh a ton. (These books are heavy.)
  • I could sleep for a year. (I could sleep for a long time.)
  • The path went on forever. (the path was really long.)
  • He beat him into a pulp. (He beat him up very harshly.)
  • He must have jumped a mile. (He jumped very high into the air.)
  • I'm doing like 15 trillion things right now. (I'm busy.)
  • Boston State-House is the hub of the solar system. (Boston State-House is an important place.)
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," Ch. 6
  • "Ladies and gentlemen, I've been to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and I can say without hyperbole that this is a million times worse than all of them put together." This uses hyperbole to illustrate the use of hyperbole.
  • He was so big he used a tree trunk for a toothpick. (He is a huge person.)
  • I'd kill myself before listening to another one of his speeches. (His speeches are very unpleasant.)
  • This coffee tastes like an old man has been heated to render out the earwax. (This coffee tastes horrible.)

A common source of unwitting humour is when hyperbole is preceded by the word "literally":

  • "I was literally bullied at work in several different ways. I was forced to literally work with both hands tied behind my back. If I wanted time off I literally had to fight for it." [1]
Look up hyperbole in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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