Exaggeration is often welcome in conversation. We love to claim we caught the biggest fish, had the worst day of our lives. Casual talks with friends are lighter if we stretch the truth, or even invent things out of whole cloth .
But that is entertainment. Serious discussions are not aided by stretching facts to fit desires. Unless, I suppose, you are a lawyer … Seriously, using exaggeration to win an argument is a time honored practice .
The problem is when exaggeration turns to lies. If someone says the water tastes bad, fine. If they say it is dangerous to drink, that should require proof. Lies and truth require more than merely saying something is so .
Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment or when trying to achieve power, exaggerations slide easily to lies taken as facts, for exaggerated goals without foundation or nuance. So we get orations, such as “gypsies are ignorant dirty thieving people and should all be run off or shot on sight.” No proof, no nuance, but unfortunately effective especially when combined with other equally shaky statements like “we would all be better off if there were no gypsies.”
We used to think “lying” politicians were bad, but now we seem to believe “exaggerating” ones are merely cute .
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 