Exaggeration

Exaggeration has been a familiar part of society since at least the time of Aristotle. Whether it is exaggeration in literary form or in everyday life, exaggeration is a cognitive behavior to which society has become accustomed. Exaggeration may be as simple as representing the characteristic value of an item to be greater, better, or larger than it actually is.

The word exaggerate comes from the Latin word exaggerare, which translated means “to magnify.” Because of the prevalence of exaggeration in everyday life, it could be argued that society has become immune and desensitized to this particular form of deceit. Some form of exaggeration can be found in every facet of daily activity, from literature and media to personal expressions of prowess, educational success, and even to the practice of law.

Part of the reason that exaggeration is so prevalent is that society is currently in what some scholars have termed “the trophy generation.” As the trophy generation, everyone wants to be recognized and given the “most valuable player” status. The mentality is so strong and accepted by society that exaggeration has become a protected form of speech, further obscuring the lines between reasonable expectation of truthful disclosure and the commercial interest in relentless self-promotion.

The foundations for exaggeration go back in time to the dawn of man. In ancient Greece, the Alazon was one of the three fundamental characters of the comedic theater. The imposter who sees himself greater than he actually is becomes the repeated subject of plots to embarrass or destroy him and enjoys a continued implementation into modern-day television and movie scripts. Aristotle describes such individuals as “boasters” who pretend to have distinguished qualities not actually possessed, or individuals who exaggerate the true nature of their being. First recorded in English-language writings during the 1560s, the term exaggerate may have originally been defined as “to pile up” or accumulate. Certainly throughout history it is not unforeseeable that the Alazons of real life often “pile up” the false recollections of otherwise truthful events, even to the point of intentional deceit.