We explain what hyperbole or exaggeration is, various examples and how it is used in poetry and in advertising.
What is hyperbole?
Hyperbole or exaggeration is a Figure of speech or stylistic resource, which consists of the enlargement or exaggeration of the features or magnitudes attributed to a referent or a situation. It is done not to falsify the information or lie, but to convey a subjective appreciation, that is, to convey a point of view.
Hyperbole is in common use in the language literary (that is, in poems, songs, novels and others artistic works), but also in everyday or popular language, as well as in the world of advertising, political slogans or jokes and humorous texts.
Its operation, deep down, is similar to that of the metaphor, in which properties of one referent are attributed to another, only in this case that relationship between referents is usually enlarged or disproportionate, and therefore should not be interpreted literally, but figuratively.
Examples of hyperbole
A clear example of hyperbole is constituted by certain expressions or common places of the language, such as:
- "A smile from ear to ear", to indicate that it was a wide smile (but not literally that wide);
- "He was the happiest man in the world", to indicate that he was particularly happy (although not necessarily the happiest in the world);
- "A shame to die", to indicate that one suffers an enormous sadness (although one is not really going to die for it);
- “The asphalt was boiling”, to indicate that it was very hot (since it is impossible for it to boil at Pressure Y temperature ordinary).
- "I'm dying of hunger", to indicate that you are very hungry (although not so much as to literally die).
Poems with hyperbole
Hyperbole is in common use in poetic language, as is evident in the following verses:
- From "Romance satirico" by Francisco de Quevedo (Spain)
"Who painted you coward
he does not know him, and he lied,
that more living men have died
that the Cid Campeador killed. "
- From “God wants it” by Gabriela Mistral (Chile)
"The world was more beautiful
since you made me ally,
when next to a hawthorn
we are speechless
And love like hawthorn
it gave us fragrance! "
- From “Divagación” by Ruben Darío (Nicaragua)
"I will say that you are more beautiful than Moon:
that heaven's treasure is less rich
that the treasure that veils the importunate
ivory caress of your fan. "
- From “El golem” by Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina)
"The artifices and candor of man
they have no end. We know there was a day
in which God's people sought the Name
in the vigils of the Jewish quarter. "
Hyperbole in advertising
Hyperbole is used as part of the expressive licenses of the advertising, to exalt the benefits of a product or service. The following slogans are examples of this:
- "Cooler would be hypothermia" (Sprite soda slogan)
- "Nothing is impossible" (ADIDAS slogan)
- "You can't eat just one" (Lays potato chips slogan)
- "They last, and they last, and they last" (Energizer alkaline battery slogan)
However, hyperbole can also occur graphically or visually, as in the following cases:
- Seafood restaurant advertising
It is hyperbolic because it magnifies the size of the lobsters served in the restaurant.
- Hamburger advertising
It is hyperbolic because it presents the hamburger as "impossible."
- Dior cosmetics advertising
It is hyperbole in the sense that it promises the consumer of cosmetic margins of beauty that only a famous and wealthy actress can have, also using numerous beauty products.