I have a story I like to tell about a woman I used to know who was pregnant for far longer than she would have liked. She and her boyfriend were desperate for ways to induce labor.
So I usually say something like “And she was in, like, month 11 of the pregnancy…” My friends who are hyperbole impaired usually go off on me at that point. They sputter “Eleven months?!? You know that’s not possible, right? Don’t you know ANYTHING about pregnancy, do you?!?”
It’s at this point that I have to explain the concept of exaggerating for effect for, like, the millionth time to these people.
I used to have this problem, but have now become like your friends - annoyed by hyperbole. It does become distracting. You can maintain your desire to exaggerate by doing one thing: “She was so far along in the pregnancy, she FELT like she was in her 13th month.” Exaggeration in place, hyperbole abandoned in that gas station restroom 10 miles back.
I knew this couple because I worked at the video store where they were customers. They had heard that laughter can induce labor, so they were in every night renting comedies. They kept this up until the woman was in maybe her 17th month. Then they stopped coming in. We didn’t see them for several more months.
Its gonna be a long year.