Written by Miranda González

It’s January, which means that the northern hemisphere is still in the dead of winter. As I write this, the northeastern part of the United States is currently getting blasted with inordinate amounts of snow. While there are serious storms that knock out power, delay travel, and even cause hypothermia, most cold weather usually isn’t deadly. However, there’s something about being cold that makes us all a little dramatic. So while you heat up some hot chocolate and grab some extra blankets, let’s take a moment to discuss exaggeration and hyperbole.

Exaggeration

Exaggeration is the act of making something sound better, bigger, worse, etc. than it actually is. So if it snowed quite a bit, I might call my friend in Florida and say, “It snowed like two feet here!” when really, it was probably closer to two inches. That’s an exaggeration. We usually use it to impress or entertain. Sometimes, people don’t even realize that they are exaggerating. With exaggeration, though, you don’t stretch the truth so much that what you say is unbelievable.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is really similar to exaggeration, except that you expect people to know that you are exaggerating because what you say is so ridiculous it couldn’t possibly be true. For example, I might tell my friend in Florida, “It snowed so much that penguins are running around my backyard!” It’s a very obvious exaggeration. Also, “hyperbole” cannot be used as a verb, while “exaggeration” has the verb form “exaggerate.”

We Americans love to exaggerate our cold weather. Here are some things we often say when it’s chilly out:

“I’m freezing (to death)!”

OR “It’s so cold, I’m dying!”

With or without the death part, this is still a blatant exaggeration. Unless you are literally frozen stiff, it’s simply not true. (But it’s fun to say!)

“My fingers/toes are falling off!”  

OR   “I’m getting frostbite!”

OR (worse) “I’m freezing my butt off!”

Frostbite is real thing, but it’s pretty rare. So unless your fingers or toes are actually falling off, you’re shamelessly exaggerating again.

“It’s so cold, it feels like a meat locker in here.”

This one is usually used inside. It could maybe be true if the heat hasn’t been turned on in a long time, but again, probably an exaggeration.

“It’s so cold, I’ll have to open the fridge to heat up the house.”

This is ridiculous, of course, so we’ve clearly crossed into hyperbole territory.

“It’s so cold, polar bears are buying fur coats.”

Again, obviously a hyperbole!

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