--- title: Sarcasm, hyperbole and understatement side by side — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Sarcasm, hyperbole and understatement side by side», a lesson of the language course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Three kinds of talk bend the truth in three different ways. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/) / Sarcasm, hyperbole and understatement… # Sarcasm, hyperbole and understatement side by side Lesson 52 of the language course of Mova's primary school: 13 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/0/) — Three kinds of talk bend the truth in three different ways. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/1/) — Hyperbole makes things BIGGER («we'll be here till we're ninety»), understatement makes them SMALLER («bit of a wait, eh»), and sarcasm says the OPPOSITE («oh brilliant, I LOVE standing in the rain»). - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/2/) — Picture one wet bus stop with the bus twenty minutes late: Ruby says «This bus is NEVER coming», her brother Jack says «Oh brilliant, best day ever», and their gran says «Bit of a wait, eh». - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/3/) — Three people, three kinds of talk, one fed-up feeling. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/4/) — To tell them apart, put the words next to the facts and ask: is it the opposite of the truth (sarcasm), bigger than the truth (hyperbole) or smaller than the truth (understatement)? - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/5/) — The same words can be real or not, depending on the scene: «Nice one, Kai!» after a goal is praise, and after a dropped tray it is sarcasm. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/6/) — And some true facts sound unbelievable — a science book is not a playground boast. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/7/) — In a text there is no voice to help, so if you can't tell, just ask. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/9/) — Sarcasm says the opposite of what is meant, usually to tease or complain: «Oh brilliant, I LOVE standing in the rain» means «I hate this». - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/14/) — People can mix the kinds: «Oh yeah, I've ONLY told you a million times» uses sarcastic «only» (it's a lot) and hyperbolic «a million». - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/16/) — In a text message there is no voice or face, so «great, that took forever» could be real relief or sarcasm; it is fine to ask «u annoyed or just joking?», and tone tags like «/j» (joking) can help. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/17/) — Some true facts sound like hyperbole: scientists reported in 2014 that a blue whale's heart weighed about 180 kilograms, as much as two or three grown men. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/52-sarcasm-hyperbole-and-understatement-side-by-side/19/) — Not bad at all, kiddo» about 19 out of 20 is understatement (litotes): Dad is proud. - ← previous: [Just a scratch and I'm fine: when to worry and tell an adult](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/51-just-a-scratch-and-i-m-fine-when-to-worry-and-tell-an-adult/) - next →: [Told you a hundred times: how other languages exaggerate and play down](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down/) - ↑ back to [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/)