Imagine having to read big walls of text on a topic of no interest to you. It’s like watching paint dry. Enter hyperbole, the superhero of speech, with a real flair for the dramatic. With hyperbole, we can make mountains out of molehills and transform a simple annoyance into a catastrophe of epic proportions. Hyperbole doesn’t just describe — it transforms, amplifying the ordinary into the extraordinary to ensure that your words don’t just whisper — they roar! Hyperbole makes our stories more compelling, our emotions more palpable, and our messages unforgettable.
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What is hyperbole?
A hyperbole is a figure of speech in which an exaggerated statement is used to emphasise something or add an effect.
In general, most people know that a hyperbole is an exaggeration and that the phrase is simply added for greater effect. This is because hyperbole is so common that there are many well known hyperboles that native English speakers use virtually all the time. You’ll come across them in everyday conversations, and you’re sure to find them in novels, poems, and song lyrics.
Let’s take a look at a quick example. Let’s say someone says to you that they are ‘drowning in work’. Unless they’re a lifeguard, they are not, in a literal sense, drowning in work. This is an exaggeration and what they are trying to say is that they have a lot of work to do.
Is hyperbole good or bad?
Hyperbole is a double-edged sword, capable of cutting through the noise with striking clarity but also prone to misfire if not wielded carefully. On one hand, hyperbole can be an incredibly effective tool for emphasis. In storytelling, hyperbole breathes life into narratives, turning ordinary events into epic tales and engaging the listener’s imagination in a way that literal language often fails to achieve.
However, the very power of hyperbole can also be its downfall. Overuse or inappropriate use of it can lead to misunderstanding or diminish the speaker’s credibility. When every statement is an exaggeration, the impact of hyperbole diminishes, and it can start to feel insincere or manipulative. Listeners may become desensitised to the exaggerations, or worse, they may feel misled if the hyperbole is taken literally.
In essence, whether hyperbole is good or bad depends largely on the context and the intention behind its use. When used judiciously, it can enhance communication, add color to language, and effectively convey strong emotions. But when used carelessly, it risks turning powerful rhetoric into mere noise, leading to confusion, frustration, or even alienation.
Examples of hyperbole
Here follows some common examples of hyperbole used in everyday conversation, and what they really mean.
- I didn’t sleep for a year. – I struggled to sleep after that.
- I nearly died laughing. – I laughed a lot.
- I have a million things to do this week. – I have a lot of things to do this week.
- I could sleep forever. – I’m exhausted.
- That bag weighs a ton. – That bag is heavy.
- I’ve told you twenty thousand times. – I’ve told you many times.
- I’m giving it 200%. – I’m giving it my all.
- I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. – I’m very hungry.
- As old as the hills. – Very old.
- I walked a million miles to get here. – I walked a long distance to get here.
- We waited in the queue forever. – We waited in the queue for a long time.
- We didn’t have two pennies to rub together. – We were poor.
- You could have knocked me over with a feather. – I was shocked.
- This project is going to be the death of me. – The project is causing me a lot of worries and problems.
- I’m dying of thirst. – I’m really thirsty.
Examples of hyperbole from literature
The famous playwright William Shakespeare makes multiple use of hyperbole in his play ‘Macbeth’ to describe the extent to which the killing of King Duncan affects Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Take a look:
Macbeth: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red”
(Act II, Scene 2)
Lady Macbeth: “Here’s the smell of the blood still.
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
(Act V, Scene 1)
How and when to use hyperbole
Hyperboles are great tools for elevating your writing because they can be used to amplify what is being said. Here’s a brief guide as to how and when it’s best to use them, combined with some guidelines for best practice.
When to use hyperboles:
To enhance storytelling: In storytelling, hyperboles can make tales more entertaining and memorable. Exaggerating details, like “the line was miles long,” makes the story more engaging and fun for the listener.
When emphasising strong emotions: Use hyperboles to amplify emotions like joy, frustration, love, or excitement. Phrases like “I’m so happy I could burst” or “This is the worst day of my life” vividly convey intense feelings and can help your audience connect with your emotional state.
To create vivid imagery: In literature or creative writing, hyperboles can paint a more vivid picture in the reader’s mind. Describing a character’s reaction as “her heart stopped” instead of just “she was surprised” creates a more dramatic and engaging image.
To add humour: Hyperboles are often used to inject humour into a conversation or text. Saying something like “you could have knocked me down with a feather” can make your audience smile while effectively making your point.
When not to use hyperboles
In serious situations: Avoid hyperboles in situations where sensitivity is needed, such as during conflicts, discussions about health, or in legal contexts. Over-exaggeration might be seen as insincere or dismissive of the gravity of the situation.
When conveying important information: If you are sharing critical information, particularly in emergency situations or when giving instructions, hyperboles can confuse or mislead your audience. It’s best to be straightforward and literal in such cases.
When precision is required: In professional settings, technical writing, or academic papers, accuracy and precision are crucial. Hyperboles can undermine your credibility in these contexts. Stick to clear, factual language to maintain trust and clarity.
When communicating with different cultures: Be mindful of cultural differences when using hyperboles. What might be a common and accepted exaggeration in one culture could be misunderstood or seen as inappropriate in another.
Best practices for using hyperboles
To work hyperbole into your writing, consider the following questions:
- Are there any easy hyperbolic comparisons to make?
- Who or what is the most important element of this scene?
- Are there specific qualities that mean more than others?
Why you shouldn’t overuse hyperbole
As briefly touched upon earlier, the overuse of hyperbole can often lead to misunderstanding, and readers won’t know what to believe. When too many statements are exaggerations, their impact diminishes, and it can begin to feel insincere or manipulative. People may become desensitised to the exaggerations, or worse still, they may feel misled if someone were to take the hyperbole literally.
Hyperbole vs. other literary devices
Hyperbole vs. Simile vs. Metaphor
A simile is when someone says one thing is like something else. For example, ‘the light is as bright as the sun’, while a metaphor is like a simile, but doesn’t use the words ‘as’ or ‘like, for example ‘the dress is a rainbow of colours’.
Sometimes, hyperbole might resemble a simile or a metaphor. The way to identify a hyperbole is that it always involves unrealistic exaggeration while metaphors and similes only sometimes use exaggeration.
Hyperbole vs cliche vs idiom
Some hyperboles are so overused that they are sometimes considered a cliche. A cliche is an overused phrase.
An idiom is a phrase that you can only understand as a whole and not through each individual word put together. For example, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” is hyperbole, and “I’m eating humble pie” is an idiom.
Hyperbole vs. litotes vs. meiosis
Litotes and meiosis are other literary devices which are similar to hyperbole, but distinct from it. Litotes are phrases that use a negative to express a positive, for example, saying “It’s not the best weather today” during a terrible storm. Meanwhile meiosis is a purposeful understatement intended to diminish the subject, such as ‘it was a bit loud so close to the concert speakers’.
Is the word ‘literally’ hyperbole?
Sometimes people incorrectly use the word ‘literally’ to artificially give a remark more substance. In this instance, people will add the word ‘literally’ at the end of a remark as a way to exaggerate and hyperbolise a statement, rather than to mean in a literal sense.
For example, if someone says ‘I wiped the floor with him, literally’ they do not mean that they mopped the floor with a person in the literal sense, but simply that they succeeded in some sort of fight or argument with someone.
This formerly incorrect use of the word literally is now accepted in some dictionaries as a new additional definition of the word, saying ‘to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling’.
FAQ
How can you tell a hyperbole?
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines a hyperbole as “a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better, more exciting, more dangerous, etc. than it really is”.
What’s the difference between exaggeration and hyperbole?
Exaggeration simply means going over the top, while hyperbole means unrealistic exaggeration. For example, saying ‘I’ve told you a hundred times’ is exaggeration, but saying ‘I’ve told you a million times’ is hyperbole.
Final word
So, the next time you find yourself reaching for the right words, don’t be afraid to go big and let your imagination run wild. With hyperbole we can make our words leap off the page, crash through the mundane, and resonate with the force of a thousand thunderclaps. After all, in a world where words have the power to move mountains, why settle for anything less than the most spectacular? With hyperbole in your toolkit, your language will always shine as brightly as a thousand suns, making your message impossible to ignore.