Kathy Martin's Blog - Posts Tagged "television"
Hyperbole To Die For
I hardly ever have the television on in the morning. After my daughter has gone to school I listen to the radio while I do some kitchen chores and then turn it off when I sit down to write. Last week, however, I switched the TV on to check the schedules because a friend was due to appear in something later that day. So it was by merest chance that I caught the presenter of a gardening programme winding up his item with the words, “this is a roof garden to die for.” Now, okay, I realise he was using hyperbole but for some reason it struck me as more ludicrous than most such expressions. I can see that some things might be worth dying for, such as family and the greater good of others, but a roof garden? Surely not.
Of course I’m being unfair to the poor chap who was simply trying to express the depth of his admiration and had I been in a less pedantic mood that day I might not have noticed the absurdity of the comment. Indeed, I use hyperbole on a daily basis. I laughed so much I cried; I thought my head would explode; the shopping weighed a ton. None of those statements are strictly true but nobody thinks I’m strange when I say them. So I’m aware that I’m no position to poke fun at others when they use similar expressions. I just think the roof garden incident has made me more aware of the silly things we all say when we want to emphasise a point.
So hyperbole has its place but I do advise caution when using the word ‘literally’. Recently I overheard a girl saying to friends, ‘my heart was literally in my mouth.’ Now I’m no doctor but that sounds serious. And finally, certain broadcasters need to sort out what it means to underestimate something. When the people of the Somerset Levels were being driven from their homes by horrendous flooding, it can’t have been helpful that in a piece to camera a reporter said it was impossible to underestimate the impact of the floods on the community. Not helpful at all.
Of course I’m being unfair to the poor chap who was simply trying to express the depth of his admiration and had I been in a less pedantic mood that day I might not have noticed the absurdity of the comment. Indeed, I use hyperbole on a daily basis. I laughed so much I cried; I thought my head would explode; the shopping weighed a ton. None of those statements are strictly true but nobody thinks I’m strange when I say them. So I’m aware that I’m no position to poke fun at others when they use similar expressions. I just think the roof garden incident has made me more aware of the silly things we all say when we want to emphasise a point.
So hyperbole has its place but I do advise caution when using the word ‘literally’. Recently I overheard a girl saying to friends, ‘my heart was literally in my mouth.’ Now I’m no doctor but that sounds serious. And finally, certain broadcasters need to sort out what it means to underestimate something. When the people of the Somerset Levels were being driven from their homes by horrendous flooding, it can’t have been helpful that in a piece to camera a reporter said it was impossible to underestimate the impact of the floods on the community. Not helpful at all.
