Hyperbole

I want to take a minute to discourage all of you from using hyperbole, exaggerated words not to be taken literally. You could have said, “The team did a great job,” but instead you said, “The team was fantastic.” You could have said, “You’ve got to be careful if you go down that road,” but instead you said, “Going down that road will lead to disaster.” The other day I heard a pundit call Trump a narcissist. The interviewer said, “You’re not a psychologist.” The pundit could have said, “Trump likes all eyeballs on him.” It’s proven: listeners are prone to reject exaggeration out of hand. One way to say it right is to stick to one syllable English. It’s a language with a reputation for clarity.