Editing Hyperbole

{{Short description|Rhetorical device}}
{{About|the term used in rhetoric|a geometric curve|Hyperbola}}

'''Hyperbole''' ({{IPAc-en|h|aɪ|ˈ|p|ɜːr|b|əl|i|audio=En-hyperbole (spoken word).ogg}}; adj. '''hyperbolic''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|h|aɪ|p|ər|ˈ|b|ɒ|l|ɪ|k|audio=En-hyperbolic (spoken word).ogg}}) is the use of [[exaggeration]] as a [[rhetorical device]] or [[figure of speech]]. In [[rhetoric]], it is also sometimes known as [[auxesis (rhetoric)|auxesis]] (literally 'growth'). In [[poetry]] and [[public speaking|oratory]], it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a figure of speech, it is usually not meant to be taken literally.<ref>{{cite Dictionary.com|hyperbole|access-date=2012-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://volweb.utk.edu/school/bedford/harrisms/hyperbole.htm |title=Hyperbole |publisher=[[University of Tennessee]], Knoxville |website=Harris Middle School |access-date=2014-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606050626/http://volweb.utk.edu/school/bedford/harrisms/hyperbole.htm |archive-date=6 June 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
'Hyperbole' is derived from the {{langx|grc|{{linktext|ὑπερβολή}}}} ''huperbolḗ'' by way of Latin. The word is composed from {{lang|grc|{{linktext|ὑπέρ}}}} ''hupér'' 'above, beyond' and {{lang|grc|{{linktext|βάλλω}}}} ''bállō'' 'throw'.

Unlike most English words beginning with ''hyper-'', it is stressed on the second syllable. The first known use is in the 15th century.<ref name="merriam">{{Cite web|title=Definition of HYPERBOLE|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hyperbole|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Merriam-Webster }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Zafarris|first=Jess|date=2017-11-12|title=The Etymology of "Hyperbole"|url=https://uselessetymology.com/2017/11/12/the-etymology-of-hyperbole/|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Useless Etymology}}</ref>

==Usage==
Hyperbole is often used for emphasis or effect. In casual speech, it functions as an [[intensifier]]:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://literarydevices.net/hyperbole/ |website=Literary Devices | title=Definition of Hyperbole | access-date=10 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="merriam"/> saying "the bag weighed a ton"<ref>{{cite book|last=Mahony|first=David|title=Literacy Tests Year 7|year=2003|publisher=Pascal Press|isbn=978-1-877-08536-9|page=82}}</ref> simply means that the bag was extremely heavy.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/H/hyperbole.htm | title=Hyperbole | publisher=Byu.edu | access-date=16 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717005504/http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/H/hyperbole.htm | archive-date=17 July 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The rhetorical device may be used for serious or ironic or comic effects.<ref>M. H. Abrams, ''A Glossary of Literary Terms'', 11th ed. (Boston: Cengage, 2015), 169.</ref>  Understanding hyperbole and its use in context can help understand the speaker's point. Hyperbole generally conveys feelings or emotions from the speaker, or from those who the speaker may talk about. It can be used in a form of humor, excitement, distress, and many other emotions, all depending on the [[context (language use)|context]] in which the speaker uses it.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Christopher|title=The Rhetoric of Excess in Baroque Literature and Thought |url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/christopherdjohnson/files/rq_review_of_hyperboles.pdf |website=Scholar.harvard.edu |publisher=Harvard}}</ref>

=== In popular culture ===
Hyperbole is one of the most widely recognized and used forms of figurative language in everyday life. It is used heavily in advertising and entertainment. Advertisers use hyperbole to exaggerate the benefits of products to boost sales. Repetitive hyperbole is used in [[public relations]] to increase the popularity of a person or product. It is also used in propaganda, giving it a bad reputation.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

=== US case law ===
Rhetorical hyperbole is defined as "extravagant exaggeration employed for rhetorical effect" for [[First Amendment]] purposes. [[Greenbelt Cooperative Pub. Ass'n v. Bresler]] (1970), [[Letter Carriers v. Austin]] (1974) and [[Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co.]] (1989) are notable cases. In [[Watts v. United States]] (1969) the defendant was absolved of federal anti-threat punishment for saying "the first person he would put in his scope is [[L.B.J.]]"; the court found this to be "political hyperbole".<ref name="hudson20">{{cite news |last1=Hudson | first1=David L. Jr. |title=Rhetorical Hyperbole |url=https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1796/rhetorical-hyperbole |agency=The First Amendment Encyclopedia |publisher=Middle Tennessee State University |date=14 April 2020}}</ref>

=== In literature ===
Hyperbole has been used throughout literature for many centuries. [[Heroic drama]], which is drama with an emphasis on grandeur and excess, often makes use of hyperbole to extend the effect and epic nature of the genre. Modern [[tall tale]]s also make use of hyperbole to exaggerate the feats and characteristics of their protagonists. For example, the American tall tale about [[Paul Bunyan]] relies heavily on hyperbole to establish Bunyan's giant stature and abilities.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leengen|first=Marcus|date=2019-11-26|title=What is Hyperbole? 🕮 Hyperbole definition and meaning + examples|url=https://figurativelanguage.net/hyperbole.html|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Figurative Language}}</ref>

For hyperbole to be effective it needs to be obvious, deliberate, and outlandish. Using hyperbolic speech as a character trait can denote an unreliable narrator.

[[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]]'s ''Concord Hymn'' uses hyperbole in the lines "Here once the embattled farmers stood / And fired the shot heard round the world."

In [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s ''Slaughterhouse-Five'', the protagonist emerges from his shelter to find total destruction, and makes the hyperbolic statement that "Dresden was like the moon now, nothing but minerals." The hyperbole conveys how completely the city was ruined.

=== Literally ===
One of the most frequently used hyperboles in English is the word ''literally''. It became a controversial issue when millennials began to convolute ''literally'' by using the word to artificially substantiate a position.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-08-25|title="Literally" Literally Needs to Stop|url=https://www.thewarriorwire.org/4018/lifestyle/literally-literally-needs-to-stop/|access-date=2024-06-05|website=The Warrior Wire}}</ref> Many dictionaries now document the meaning as "to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling". Hence, ''literally'' has become one of the primary ways to exaggerate and hyperbolize a statement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-08-25|title=Hyperbole Examples and Definition|url=http://www.literarydevices.com/hyperbole/|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Literary Devices}}</ref>

=== Common examples ===

* He was so angry, I thought he was going to kill somebody.
* She had a thousand missed calls.
* I was so embarrassed, I wanted to die.

== See also ==
* [[Adynaton]], an impossible form of hyperbole
* [[Figure of speech]]
* [[Litotes]] and [[Meiosis (rhetoric)|meiosis]], forms of deliberate [[understatement]]
* [[Tautology (language)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|hyperbole}}
* [https://poemanalysis.com/figurative-language/hyperbole/ Examples of hyperbole in poetry]
* [http://literaryterms.net/hyperbole/ Definition and Examples of Hyperbole]
* [https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-hyperbole What is Hyperbole?]
* {{cite web|last1=Ritter|first1=Joshua|title=Recovering Hyperbole: Re-Imagining the Limits of Rhetoric for an age of Excess|url=http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=communication_diss|website=scholarworks.gsu.edu|publisher=Georgia State University}}

{{Figures of speech}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rhetorical techniques]]
[[Category:Tall tales]]