What is the difference between idioms and hyperboles?

1 Answer
Acquaintance
Jul 12, 2016

Hyperboles are exaggerated statements that are not meant to be understood literally, whereas idioms are usually popular or common phrases that are not as easy to understand right away. See explanation.

Explanation:

Common #color(red)("hyperboles")#:

#color(red)("I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!")#

#color(red)("This bag weighs a ton!")#

Common #color(orange)("idioms")#:

#color(orange)("It's raining cats and dogs!")#

#color(orange)("Piece of cake!")#

As you can see, idioms differ from hyperboles. Hyperboles are obvious exaggerations. Idioms are phrases or sentences that cannot be understood with the separate words of its own, but has a meaning nonetheless.

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