A HYPERBOLE is an exaggeration. It is when a writer or speaker wishes to make a point by deliberately exaggerating something.
EXAMPLE
If something is really funny, you might say, “I nearly died laughing.”
This is an exaggeration – you did not “nearly die”.
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A popular comedian, Dane Cook, says alot of HYPERBOLES in his act.
He says that his friend once told him that he took a thousand hour nap when he was really tired.
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“Your mama” jokes are also Hyperboles.
Here is a less offensive one:
Your mama wears so much make-up that she weighs fifty pounds more when she is done putting it on.
Here is a school that has compiled a bunch of HYPERBOLES! – Click here
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An UNDERSTATEMENT is the opposite of a HYPERBOLE. It is when the speaker or writer makes something sound less important than it really is. They wish to make something that is very important into something normal or unimportant.
The British comedy troupe, Monty Python, is well-known for their UNDERSTATEMENTS.
In the film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Black Knight is fighting King Arthur and the king chops his arm off. The Black Knight responds by saying, “Tis only a flesh wound!”
Obviously, getting your arm chopped off is a much bigger deal than the Black Knight is making it sound.
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During a British Airways flight on 24 June 1982, volcanic ash causes all four engines of the aircraft to fail. Although pressed for time as the aircraft rapidly lost altitude, Captain Eric Moody still managed to make an announcement to the passengers. He said, ”Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our best to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
In this example, the Captain is trying to make the loss of their engines not such a big problem in order to calm the passenger.
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In the book, Catcher in the Rye, one character says, “I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.”
It is easy to tell in this example that this character is understating the seriousness of his health issue. A tumor is a big problem and the character acts as if it is nothing to worry about.
