It may be just shyness or a bigger, more general social ineptitude, but I often get in trouble, especially on first dates or other social test drives, by choosing statements to make me sound underwhelmed. I intend it as a form of ironic, dry, breezy wit. The others don't, by my experience, usually see it that way.
Woman: "We should get together again, sometime."
Me (smiling, I think): "You might be able to talk me into that, if I don't have anything better to do."
I think I should start winking when I do this.
I've tried to find a word for it, with no luck. Perhaps I'm giving up too easily but I want to assign a word to this. Hypobole. Whaddya think (about the word, not my skillz)?
Just nod, man.
Posted by: Jeff | May 19, 2006 at 08:42 PM
Excellent word dude! I am particularly fond of what it suggests you are doing (albeit sardonically) in such instances:
HYPO v -ED, -ING, -S to inject with a hypodermic needle.
BOLE n pl. -S a fine clay.
Kind of like what gets injected into such conversations, no? A fine clay... to be coaxed into a whimsical sculpture in the artist's search for entertaining/ or intelligent social intercourse? I like it. Too much maybe.
If you don't get the intended response (of a returned smile/ or wink) would that make it a... HYPOBOLLIX?
If your intention is not so much to amuse, as to wound with your wit, might it then become a... HYPOBOLA?
Posted by: Ken Buchanan | January 26, 2007 at 09:59 AM