The Evolution of Exaggeration

Why do we use “literally” figuratively? Does conveying an "emotional truth" justify making things up? And are Angela’s kids really starving or just hungry? 

RESOURCES:

• "My Response to The New Yorker Article," by Hasan Minhaj (YouTube video, 2023).
• "Hasan Minhaj’s 'Emotional Truths,'" by Clare Malone (The New Yorker, 2023).
• "Lying to Spice up Life," by Holly Cole (Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2019).
• Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally), by John McWhorter (2016).
• "Literally," entry by Deathmatch1127 (Urban Dictionary, 2015).
• "Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction," by David A. Schkade and Daniel Kahneman (Psychological Science, 1998).
• The Giver, by Lois Lowry (1993).

EXTRAS:

• "Swearing Is More Important Than You Think," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
• "The Ugly Truth of Fast Fashion," S5.E3 of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (2019).

SOURCES:

• Holly Cole, assistant professor of psychology at Wesleyan College.
• Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.
• Mark Liberman, professor of linguistics and computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Lois Lowry, author.
• John McWhorter, professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia Unviersity.
• Hasan Minhaj, comedian.