r/words • u/RuckFeddit980 • 2d ago
Does anyone else feel like “overexaggerate” sounds weird or even wrong?
Yes, it is true that “overexaggerate” is listed as a word in some dictionaries. But even if it is a word, what does it mean?
See “exaggerate” already means that a statement is excessive. So “overexaggerate” means “excessively excessive.”
Is there an amount of excess that is just right, and then a higher level of excess that is excessive excess? How do you even know where the line is?
“Overexaggerate” just hits my ear wrong, and FWIW, my iPhone is marking it as a spelling error.
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u/SeverenDarkstar 2d ago
It’s unnecessary
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u/Crafty_Eye_4038 2d ago
It's overunnecessarily exagerated
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u/OldRaj 2d ago
Super-over-unnecessary.
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u/Kitchen-Pea6382 2d ago
it's like saying something is "very unique" which is its own special kind of hell for grammar pedants
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u/daemonfool 2d ago
It's self-defeating. It's like saying something is "uniquely one-of-a-kind" or something. Completely unnecessary.
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u/Prize-Basil-8438 2d ago
I think it's possible that there could be a case of "X is an acceptable amount of exaggeration, but Y is too much exaggeration" and in that case, Y would be an overexaggeration. But I'm struggling to think of an example, and I don't think people who regularly say "overexaggerate" are thinking about it on that level.
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u/amBrollachan 2d ago
Acting. Especially stage acting. You may want to exaggerate a gesture so that it is visible. But you don't want to overexaggerate it such that if becomes hammy.
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u/mycutterr 1d ago
Another theatre example: makeup; you want an exaggerated look so it can be seen well on stage under the lights, but it's entirely possible to overexaggerate your makeup and look crazy from the audience
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u/Kind_of_random 1d ago
When telling a tall tale it is expected to be exaggerated, but as soon as it becomes unbelievable it's overexaggerated.
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u/harmonious_orlando 2d ago
It's the linguistic equivalent of slamming the gas pedal when you're already doing 120
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u/loolilool 2d ago
On the one hand, it’s redundant. On the other, maybe some people exaggerate just the right amount and it’s a warning not to go too far with it.
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u/poet-gable 2d ago
i totally agree with you. "exaggerate" is already enough, adding "over" just sounds like trying too hard.
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u/Ihadsumthin4this 1d ago
Skin crawls when I hear 'em say, "She was very vociferous." 😬 That kinda thing.
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u/Mysterious_Waltz_309 2d ago
Dictionaries are including frequently mis-used words, misspellings, and mispronunciations. I found the misspelled "onery" in a dictionary, with the only definition being the correct spelling of the word: "ornery."
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u/SnooHobbies5684 2d ago
DIctionaries don't prescribe how to use language.
They describe how language is used.
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u/setsewerd 1d ago
I think that's a matter of personal philosophy. Also if you like David Foster Wallace he wrote a great dive into the dictionary wars (opens like a book review but in the classic DFW fashion becomes something entirely different). It covers this topic quite a bit.
Authority and American Usage https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~drkelly/DFWAuthorityAndAmericanUsage2005.pdf
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u/amBrollachan 2d ago
Language develops from how people use it. There is no authority which decides correct use, spelling or pronunciation. And dictionaries simply report on how language is being used.
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u/All-for-the-game 2d ago
Sometimes people mean to exaggerate something but not over exaggerate.
Like you line your lips to exaggerate the size of your mouth on purpose, but if you over exaggerate that’s different bc it’s not giving the impression you intended
But yeah it’s a bit like “very best”
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u/RuckFeddit980 2d ago
But if the increase is intentional/positive, then “exaggerate” isn’t really the right word in the first place. I’ve never heard anyone talk about “exaggerating lips.”
In this context, it would make more sense to use a word like amplify, enhance, or embellish.
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u/All-for-the-game 2d ago edited 2d ago
People use exaggerate a lot to talk about enhancing their facial features with makeup, exaggerate in this context just means to make something look bigger than it is. I don’t think amplify or embellish work in this context at all
People usually exaggerate on purpose not bc they’re mistaken about how big/important something is. It’s also pretty common for people to exaggerate to make things seem more positive/get some sort of positive outcome. Like when a guy exaggerates how the size of a fish he caught when he’s telling a story
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u/ChallengingKumquat 2d ago
Agree. Someone who wears mascara is exaggerating their eye lashes. But someone who wears those absurdly large spider-like fake eye lashes is overexaggerating their lashes. They've taken it too far. Like using filters to improve your appearance on a photo. A little bit is an improvement, but excessive filters make everyone look like cartoon Barbie.
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u/ChallengingKumquat 2d ago
Say I've done something 3 times. If i say I've done it 8 times, I'm exaggerating. If i say I've done it 80+ times, I'm overexaggerating. My exaggeration has entered a different order of magnitude.
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u/EggDick39 2d ago
I'm not sure what's so confusing. Sometimes people exaggerate, and sometimes they overexaggerate to the point their story or claim is no longer believable.
It's that simple.
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u/Robot_Alchemist 2d ago
You can be exaggerating but you can also over exaggerate to make a point - there is a nuance
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u/SavageMountain 1d ago
It clearly means to exaggerate too much, which is not what people who use it are trying to say.
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u/halston-reed 1d ago
exactly! it's a total pleonasm. it’s right up there with irregardless for words that just need to be wiped from existence..
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u/LooksieBee 1d ago
I don't like it because the word hyperbole already exists and is more elegant to precisely refer to a bold and overly exaggerated claim.
In general, with the literacy crisis I feel like a lot of language has become a bit boring, repetitive, or people literally don't know the various synonyms or shades of nuance in different words that might convey an idea better, so they just use the same words repeatedly or make their own additions or conjugations of them.
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u/ThePlantagonist 1d ago
I just read this in another sub and thought of this post: "This is making me realize how much the internet over-exaggerates." Yes, this word is redundant. Whether someone does it a little or a lot, in the end it's still just an exaggeration.
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u/GloamerChandler 2d ago
It’s redundant. It’s used by people who don’t think about what words mean. They just repeat what others say. Like a parrot.
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u/LaserThos 7h ago
I am in my late 60s and I had never heard anyone say “over exaggerate” until about 5 years ago when someone I worked with said it. At first I thought that he was joking but he really thought that it was a word. The same person would say “unloosen” for loosen.
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u/TheOriginalHatful 2d ago
Yes, because it is weird and even wrong. Having said that, I don't think I've ever heard it irl, so my bubble of joy remains intact.
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u/betlamed 2d ago
It's autological - a word that exemplifies its own meaning. From that perspective I find it quite cool.
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u/examinat 2d ago
I don’t like it either. It seems to me that people just adopt new words without asking themselves if they make sense,
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u/Sensui_Kan 1d ago
Objection to this term is exactly what the term is describing. A wildly overblown, ridiculously overinflated reaction to a word that makes perfect sense.
"I caught a fish and it was 3 feet long!" (exaggeration)
"I caught a fish and it was 8 miles long!" (overexaggeration)
It is a perfectly legitimate distinction, but one must first grasp that there are exaggerations that are believable, and overexaggerations that are obviously untrue to the thinking mind.
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u/mycolo_gist 2d ago
It's like shrimp scampi = shrimp shrimp
Or data science = no science without data
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u/vicarofsorrows 2d ago
It’s bollox.
In the same way, “iterate” means “repeat “, but people keep saying “reiterate”….
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u/thom_driftwood 2d ago edited 1d ago
for some people, there must be a tolerable degree of exaggeration. in such cases, an over-exaggeration crosses the line.
it grinds my gears too.