Somebody has said of the boldest figure in rhetoric, the hyperbole, that it lies without deceiving.
- Macaulay

On Hyperbole

Was going to be a comment, but it was too long.

[S]orry [M]ark[, ]but [I] read it to [A]my and we were both like - you what?

It was rather over the top, sorry. I'm afraid I just happen to like using long words - those are some of my favourites.

Anyway...

"[E]veryone was calling me mummy[.]"

"Neither James nor myself recollect calling you 'mummy'."

I should know better than to take what anyone says literally, but if you do read what you said literally, it means that "everyone" does not include James and I. And that makes me a sad panda.

:'(

Well not really. This is because I know that you use a lot of hyperbole. I don't know if you're familiar with the word, but I'll assume that you're not - it's a particular kind of exaggeration, for effect, that you happen to use a hell of a lot. You might say that you are always using hyperbole. [embarassed cough]

It's usually pretty obvious when someone is using hyperbole, but in your blog entry it was unclear (how would anyone know whether James or myself had literally called you "mummy" that day?), and I happened to feel like pointing it out, as I have a vague distaste for the idea that people might think I go around calling people "mummy" when I do not.

In a sense, yes - everyone was calling you "mummy". In a sense - I didn't. And this is why I find language a bizarre and intriguing thing.