Use of exaggeration - is it too much?

[Chintan Gohel]

Reading through the forums one is bound to find users who use expressions that exaggerate what they are saying almost to a point of being ridiculous

The first kind is those who can't grasp the relationship between numbers, for example

• My x phone can run a billion times faster than y phone - really? How did you measure that?
• It takes a million years to open this app - so when was the app developed?
• The photos are a zillion times worse - ever tried a VGA camera from an old Nokia 7250?

Then there's that group that have a poor concept of time

• The app takes forever to load - are you immortal?
• The photos take years to load - seriously?
• The resuming screen is taking too long - 3 seconds is too long?

Then we have users using expressions that have become boring or irritating

• My phone runs buttery smooth - when did butter become smooth? My butter is frozen and it takes a lot of effort to get slices from it
• My phone has become a heap of hot slag - do you even know what slag is?
• My phone is so hot it can fry an egg - was it more than 80 degrees C?

We also have those that exaggerate what they have done or not done

• I have tried everything but nothing works - ask them have you tried this, no, tried that, no - give 5 options and none have been tried
• The app crashes all the time - how many times did it crash again? 2?

I'm not trying to insult anyone but just showing the unrealistic posts that I come across sometimes.
If you have any that you have seen, post below

Thanks for sharing

 

[sinime]

I literally, never in a thousand years, would have ever guessed that posts like those, which are so buttery smooth to type, but take forever to spell check, could be so infinitely over-used. It makes my head spin every time I think about it.

:angel:

 

[Pete]

I think you're over exaggerating those exaggerations, personally....

 

[xandros9]

They're pretty much just figures of speech. It's like how some people use "literally" when they don't actually mean literally.

English.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I think you're spot on. I don't think this fault is exclusive to Windows Central Forums, or tech forums in general. I think it has to do with a couple things.

First, laziness. Sometimes being descriptive and using qualitative and quantitative language just requires more effort. It's easier to speak broadly and use terms that express absoluteness rather than definiteness. It's part of the bastardization of the English language. Rather than describing something with exactness, we'd rather use terms that generalize.

Second, I think a lot of it has to do with expectations and feelings. We all have expectations. For our jobs, our kids, our significant others, etc... But we also have them for our technology. And when our technology doesn't meet our expectations, we feel it. Something taking longer than expected to load? Feels like an eternity. Taking more effort than expected to fix a problem? Feels like I've tried everything. On and on. When our expectations aren't met, it hits us in the feels. And that's where the use of exaggerated language comes into play.

We all do it.

 

[Pete]

I think it's also used as an added incentive to get some results. It someone has an issue that only presents a mild annoyance (lack of double-tap to wake, for example), they're not likely to get a lot of answers.

However, if the OP describes this as being a "deal-breaker", accuses Microsoft of gross incompetence, etc, then people are more likely to respond. People, being like they are, are competitive in nature, so the next person who responds has to raise the game even more.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I think it's also used as an added incentive to get some results. It someone has an issue that only presents a mild annoyance (lack of double-tap to wake, for example), they're not likely to get a lot of answers.

However, if the OP describes this as being a "deal-breaker", accuses Microsoft of gross incompetence, etc, then people are more likely to respond. People, being like they are, are competitive in nature, so the next person who responds has to raise the game even more.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

I think it's also used as an added incentive to get some results. It someone has an issue that only presents a mild annoyance (lack of double-tap to wake, for example), they're not likely to get a lot of answers.

However, if the OP describes this as being a "deal-breaker", accuses Microsoft of gross incompetence, etc, then people are more likely to respond. People, being like they are, are competitive in nature, so the next person who responds has to raise the game even more.

I'm more likely to ignore such a person as what they say comes out as whining

 

[Chintan Gohel]

We used to have essay writing classes in primary and high school - of course our teachers encouraged us to use idioms, similes, expressions etc but within reason and limitations. Reading through some posts I feel like giving them 5 out 40 marks for over use of expressive language :winktongue:

 

[raycpl]

Nice post, OP ..I like it, it has a premium feel to it!! Unlike so many other useless threads.. those mean nothing to me.

Hahaha..

Sent from mTalk

 

[Guytronic]

I remember typing the other day something to the effect of:
"takes eons for these phone releases"

...so har har hardy har...

 

[slivy58]

Human nature… May be overly exaggerated more often than not but it expresses ones frustrations, I’d say many are not total experts in this field so for some going over the top w/words gets their point across. Words are just that, words, it’s a difference of opinion and perspective which “can” make for an interesting read at times (my opinion), yet bottom line, they have a problem and would appreciate help resovling.

Ya I know too serious LOL, feel free to critique

 

[Guytronic]