THE UNIVERSAL NATURE OF HYPERBOLE

This paper examines the universal nature of hyperbole in different speeches. Hyperbole has been studied in rhetoric and in literary contexts, but only relatively recently in banal, every day contexts. It is often related with irony. Hyperbolic expressions usually pass without challenge by listeners, who accept them as creative intensifications for evaluative or affective purposes such as humor and irony, and who often make their own supportive contributions to the figure of speech. In this paper, examples of hyperbole are included that occur in ironic contexts and illustrated the importance to theory-building.