Does it drive anyone else a little crazy how girls these days seem to over exaggerate their speech?
I was listening in on a conversation at a local coffee shop the other day between two 20-something girls and couldn’t help but giggle to myself. The way that they talked to each other was ridiculously overdone and exaggerated. Instead of just verbally demonstrating the fact that she is fond of a girlfriend she said, “OMG I’m obsessed with her! She is perfect!”
…Really? Is she really void of all flaws and made of perfection? And are you really obsessed with her? Like all you can think about is this girl and your whole world revolves around her? Not only is that a little creepy buuuut I also have a feeling that that it is a massive exaggeration.
I’ve caught myself recently overusing the word “awesome.” Like, “I just bought this awesome new pair of slacks.” Do the pants really inspire awe? Not even a little. They are khakis actually which is pretty much the most boring type of pants around.
So why do we all exaggerate so much? Why can’t we say, “I gained a little weight over the holidays,” instead of, “I weigh like 1,000 pounds now. I’m now bigger than P.Diddy’s Miami home!!”
My answer to this would be simple: our culture these days is extremely attention derived. Everyone is vying for the most likes on Instagram and the most friends on Facebook and in today’s world, if you don’t get the most social media attention, you lose.
With this incessant need for attention comes over exaggerating. By exaggerating your cheek bones with all that blush and highlighting powder, you may look more attractive to others in your selfies, thus garnering more attention. By exaggerating your skill level at deep sea shark taming, you are likely to attract some attention in Facebook-land. By exaggerating how often you go to the gym and how healthy you eat, you are hoping to make yourself appear more attractive and thus achieve more attention. And when you speak in flamboyant over exaggerations, you are making your life seem more interesting, entertaining, and attention-worthy.
So can we stop with all the over exaggerating? It’s kind of annoying and even phony (and when I say this I am also talking in part to myself). So let’s join together and vow to stop over exaggerating quite so much. The world will be a better place without it. Now let me get back to watching this new show called “Girls” that I’m obsessed with and that I watch like 10 times a day while I eat like 4,500 Oreos. :)
