Read on Twitter
Hyperbole is to right-now what irony was to the '90s
The mode of speech holding the key to the contemporary, or whatnot
It's so forgotten as a formal concept these days that we mostly mark it via negativa, as 'not irony'
Almost whenever somebody online asks if x is ironic speech, x is hyperbole. Almost whenever somebody posts 'y but unironically,' they post y as hyperbole
Elon Musk for example isn't an irony poster, but a hyperbole poster
'Theory' was always -- and always self-theorized as -- hyperbolic, but the eminence of Deconstruction last time theory was a public force made irony stand out. The era of AP, Acc, and neo-Benjaminian theory goes all-in on hyperbole
I have a rough sense that hyperbole has a historical association with the courtly, therefore something something social media, but I'm not sure
Hyperbole as everyday linguistic artistry is partly a weird intersection between gamer culture, artschool/litmag/theory culture, and Black femme culture, the three fountainheads of online speech
H/T @apotrafied who once said something like 'the engine of linguistic innovation is the agon between NEET culture and Black culture'
The day @apotrafied plays Mario Kart will be the first day of the future https://twitter.com/apotrafied/status/1347925413931196416?s=20
Also relevant: https://twitter.com/damfales/status/1347532520406081541?s=20
I almost understand this comment, and far as I do I think it's right https://twitter.com/wfraser/status/1347939003757162498?s=20
Maybe non-literal sincerity comes in two forms: metaphor, where you mean something similar to what you say, and hyperbole, where your relationship to what you say is similar to meaning it https://twitter.com/damfales/status/1347941534310821889?s=20
