Monday, November 10, 2008

Hyperbole? Not!

This week in my upper-level "Foundations of Speech Communication" course we've been talking about "figures of speech" or extraordinary uses of language. One common trope is rhetorical exaggeration, also known as hyperbole. Today I read this statement over at Jim Kunstler's blog, and I thought it was a good example of hyperbole:

"The current occupant of the White House . . . has sedulously prepared for his successor the biggest shit sandwich the world has ever seen, and there is naturally some concern that Mr. Obama might choke on it."

Upon further reflection I thought nah, that's not hyperbole.

2 comments:

Working To Make A Living said...

I am curious if Republicans feel any sense responsibility for the administration they have supported for the last eight years.

Nathan said...

I had to laugh at the CNN interview Bush gave this week in which he was asked if he had any regrets or mistakes. The only two things he could recall were using the expression "Get [Bin Laden] dead or alive" and that darned "Mission Accomplished" banner. And apparently he regrets the "dead or alive" comment because Laura didn't like it.

Not the economy. Not tax breaks for the rich. Not an exploding deficit. Not the housing meltdown. Not unemployment. Not starting the wars. Not bungling the wars. Not rendition. Not torture. Not WMDs. Not Katrina. Not stem cells. Not missing Bin Laden. Not 9/11.

I guess the ending of Oliver Stone's film was right on.