Advances
in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 8
Publication Date: August 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.88.10699.
Saffah, M. D. (2021). Hyperbole: A Pragmatic Perspective. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(8). 571-574.
Hyperbole: A Pragmatic Perspective
Lecturer Dr. Mariam D. Saffah
Department of English/College of Education/Islamic University Najaf/Iraq
ABSTRACT
Unlike most previous studies which investigate hyperbole in literary contexts, the
present review tries to portray it as an interactional pragmatic phenomenon
occurring in everyday conversations. The listener’s awareness that there is a
difference between what is said and what is meant is essential for the recognition
of hyperbole. Therefore, context is crucial for interpreting hyperbolic utterances.
As a pragmatic notion, hyperbole has not been given its due attention. Hence, this
review attempts to bridge this gap in the literature through answering the following
questions: What are the functions, types, and forms of hyperbole? What is the
relationship between hyperbole and other notions such as irony? And how it can be
used as persuasive device?
Key words: Hyperbole, pragmatics, rhetoric, context, interaction, argumentation
INTRODUCTION
In the Greek traditions, hyperbole is identified as speech which exaggerates the truth either for
the purpose of intensification or defamation. Moreover, Aristotle regards hyperbole as regular
rhetorical figure (Anderson, 2000:123).
According to Leech (1983: 145), hyperbole signifies a case where the speaker’s depiction of a
situation is more intense than is warranted by the state of affairs depicted, as in It made my
blood boil.
Hyperbole is ubiquitous in everyday conversation. Hence, the present survey aims at
investigating hyperbole from a pragmatic point of view. It will employ approaches from
pragmatics and rhetoric in order to pinpoint the role of and functions of hyperbole in everyday
interaction.
Hyperbole: Characteristics and Functions
McCarthy and Carter (2004: 152) state that hyperbole is a type of constructing reality where
there are rival versions . That is, it causes the focus of attention to be on a specific account of
reality and plays down competing accounts. Moreover, it draws the listener attention to the
speaker’s perspective in a forceful way. Nevertheless, hyperbole is not an act of lying.
This agrees with Leech’s (1969: 166) who refers to hyperbole, litotes and irony as honest
deceptions because they all distort the truth. As for hyperbole, it misrepresents the truth by
saying too much. On the other hand, irony usually assumes the form of indicating the reverse
of what one feels to be the case.
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 8, August-2021
It can be inferred that there is a degree of overlap between hyperbole and irony . In this regard,
Roberts and Kreuz (1994: 162) say that when the communicative goal is one of clarification,
emphasis, and humour, hyperbole and irony can occur in the same context. Both hyperbole and
irony manifest a discrepancy between an utterance and reality.
According to Fahnestock (2011: 117), hyperbole is similar to irony in the sense that it involves
an analogous interpretation of purposeful misstatement on the part of the speaker. However,
the speaker does not mean the opposite as is the case with irony, but wants to make a statement
prominent via employing extreme wording.
As regards hyperbole functions, it has been reported that hyperbole is frequently utilized for
emphasis in the sense that it is used by speakers as intensifiers as in The bag weighed a ton.
Moreover, hyperbole can be employed to express diverse emotions such as humour,
excitement, distress, etc., based on the context in which it occurs (http://en.wikipedia.org).
Furthermore, Cruse (2006: 80) suggests that hyperbole is a figure of speech implicating an
intended exaggeration for rhetorical effect. That is, it is meant to maximize impact or draw
attention. Additionally, such exaggeration is probable to be negative or positive. In both cases
the expression does not convey a literal truth or is meant to deceive.
Hyperbole is very common in everyday speech. For instance, people repeatedly say I’m starving
when they mean that they are only rather hungry, and it’s miles and miles is a usual way of
complaining about fairly short distances (Allot, 2010: 88).
Realization
Claridge (2011: 40) differentiates between basic and composite hyperbole. As regards the
former, the hyperbolic expression does not shift the domain of the equivalent literal expression.
For instance, both cold and freezing belong to the temperature field. However, composite
hyperbole is domain-switching i.e. it is a case of metaphorical hyperbole. In such cases,
hyperbole gathers with another figure of speech. Examples of both types are given below
(Henkemans, 2013: 3):
It was so cold in the restaurant I was freezing.
When I saw him walking down the street I was petrified.
Forms
According to Claridge (2011: 46), the only taxonomy of hyperbolic forms encountered in the
literature is that suggested by Spitzbardt (1963). The latter tries to list ubiquitous lexical and
grammatical features utilized in hyperbolic utterances. This taxonomy includes the following:
1. Numerical hyperbole
2. Words of hyperbolic nature:
a. nouns, e.g. ages
b. adjectives, e.g. colossal
c. adverbs, e.g. astronomically
d. verbs, e.g. die
3. Simile and metaphor, e.g. cross as the devil
4. Comparative and superlative degrees, e.g. in less than no time
5. Emphatic genitive, e.g. the finest of fine watches
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Saffah, M. D. (2021). Hyperbole: A Pragmatic Perspective. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(8). 571-574.
6. Emphatic plural, e.g. all the perfumes of Arabia
7. Whole sentence, e.g. he is nothing if not deliberate.
In addition to her distinction between basic and composite hyperbole, Claridge (ibid: 48)
suggests a further classification of hyperbolic expressions. Hyperbolic expressions can be
words, phrases, and clauses. Included in the categories of phrasal and clausal hyperboles, are
comparison and repetition. Examples of each category are given below:
She is allergic to everything.
You were, you were gonna set bloody fire to me.
Nobody ever learns anything.
I avoid mornings like the plague if I can.
But he’s just really really really strange.
Hyperbole as Interactional Phenomenon
According to Clark (1994: 986), people speak with others in order to get things accomplished.
Therefore, conversations, stories and other discourses are not produced via speakers acting
independently. Rather, they are the developing products of a group of people working
collaboratively. Holt (1998: 496) says that figurative expressions utilized in conversations have
an interactional role. They are part of the manner in which turns are structured to fit in with
the sequences in which those turns are performed
Hyperbole As Persuasive Device
Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca (1969: 169) mention that hyperbole is an extreme form of
expression which almost always possesses an argumentative purpose. In this regard, they say:
We consider a figure to be argumentative, if it brings about a change of perspective,
and its use seems normal in relation to this new situation. If, on the other hand, the
speech does not bring about the adherence of the hearer to this argumentative
form, the figure will be considered an embellishment, a figure of style. It can excite
admiration, but this will be on the aesthetic plane, or in recognition of the speaker's
originality.
Similarly, Fogelin (1986: 265) believes that hyperbolic utterances have rhetorical force in the
sense that it, besides other related figures of speech such as irony and litotes, is recurrently
utilized in arguments.
Moreover, Pomerantz (1986: 222) says that interlocutors resort to employing extreme case
formulations, i. e. hyperboles, when they expect their co-interlocutors to undercut their claims
and when there are in confrontational situations. Hence, they attempt to legitimize their claims
via appealing to such device.
Claridge (2011: 216) states that as a notion, hyperbole has its origins in the system of classical
rhetoric. Therefore, it requires to be seen within the broader context of the art of persuasion.
References
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 8, August-2021
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