1. waitingforzion

    waitingforzion Banned

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    Are these legitimate hyperboles?

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by waitingforzion, Oct 30, 2014.

    I am trying to learn how to write hyperbole but I think I am doing it wrong. Could you tell me what I am doing wrong and steer me toward doing in right? Thanks.

    These are simple ones I did for exercises in a book.

    1. School is so dangerous these days that teachers need body guards.
    2. When compared to the agility of my friend George, most NBA stars are rigid.
    3. The sun is shining so brightly today that chipmunks are going blind.
    4. The New York Yankees are worse than little leaguers practicing on their first day.
    5. Law and Order is on the air so much that everyone knows how to kill and get away with it.
    6. The Beatles were so drunk that when people listen to their music, they get a buzz.
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I didn't really understand #2, but the rest seem like hyperbole, sure.

    I'm not clear why you're practising it, though. Mostly we'd call something 'hyperbole' as a sort of criticism - 'Oh, that's just hyperbole' or whatever. What's your goal in getting better at it?
     
  3. jonahmann

    jonahmann Active Member

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    Number 2 is hyberbole as well. Of course, hyperbole just means exaggeration.
     
  4. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    These sound like the sort of one-liners that a stand-up comic would come up with...I'm not sure that hyperbole is usually funny (OK, they're not THAT funny)
     
  5. karmazon

    karmazon Member

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    Those are all hyperboles, you are on the right track. Just a note, a hyperbole doesn't have to that complex - it can be as simple as "he's as tall as a building".
     
  6. jonahmann

    jonahmann Active Member

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    That would be comic hyperbole.
     
  7. TaylorWP

    TaylorWP New Member

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    This may or may not help. I certainly found this entertaining, and a study on how to slide from dull, truthful reporting of an event slowly into mild hyperbole into exageration into absolutely absurd lies: Mr. Munchausen by John Kendrick Bangs. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33432
     

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