Exaggeration

Usage and Forms

Exaggeration is typically verbal in nature, but it can also be purely visual (as in caricature, in which particular physical features are grossly distorted). Verbal exaggeration is often marked by the use of certain grammatical forms, such as by the collocation of an intense adverb and an extreme adjective (e.g., “absolutely ridiculous”). It is not [Page 223] necessary that the exaggeration implies impossibility (e.g., “I waited forever for you” vs. “I waited hours for you”) but it often occurs.

The interpretation of exaggeration is embedded in the context of the speaker and listener (or in the case of visual exaggeration, the artist and the viewer). To interpret the statement as exaggeration, the listener or viewer must possess relevant knowledge about the situation (e.g., knowing that it is not uncommon for some people to wait for hours or even days in line to see the premiere of a movie, and that the same behavior for the premiere of a local play would be much less likely).

Attempts to measure the frequency of exaggeration have yielded disparate results. One study of English language use in contemporary short stories found that exaggeration was the second most frequently used non-literal form (metaphor was most common). However, another study, which used corpora of spoken English, found one exaggerated statement per thousand words.

Empirical research has demonstrated that children frequently misunderstand exaggeration, perceiving it as deception or as an error. Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, it appears relatively rarely in language of adults directed at preschool children.

Exaggeration has been shown to be employed in the service of specific discourse goals, such as to be humorous, to emphasize, and to clarify. However, the relationship between these goals is complex. Highly exaggerated statements are not perceived as more humorous, but they have been shown to make the speaker's communicative goal clearer.

Relationship to Other Non-Literal Forms

Exaggeration is related to verbal irony and can make irony more obvious, but these two tropes are distinctly different. While both represent a departure from reality, an ironic statement is a counterfactual, whereas an exaggeration is an extreme interpretation of a truth or nontruth (e.g., on a rainy day, an ironist might say, “What a lovely day!” whereas an exaggerator might mutter, “This is the worst weather ever!”). The two might co-occur in a statement such as “This is the loveliest weather I have ever seen in my life!” Both exaggerated and ironic statements may employ specific intonation cues to make the non-literal aspect more clear (as in the use of slow speaking rate or heavy stress), but neither form requires this (deadpan irony avoids the use of these cues).

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