◉5.夸张（Hyperbole/Overstatement/Exaggeration）
该词源自希腊语，意为throwing beyond，excess。夸张是对事物或行为做超越事实的描述的修辞格。就是为了强调，故意夸大或者缩小事实，也就是小题大做或者大题小做，就是用主观的眼光去渲染、粉饰客观事物，使好的更好，坏的更坏，美的更美，丑的更丑，多的更多，少的更少。以此抒发强烈的感情，给人留下深刻印象。
在数量夸张上，虽然两种语言都用一些大额数字来表现，比如用十进位的满数hundred（百）、thousand（千）、million（万）来表示，但汉语还以三、九及其倍数作为满数。因为《易经》的整个符号体系就是建立在三和三的倍数的基础上的。《易经》认为偶数为阴，奇数为阳，九位阳极，至高无上。于是便有了这么多关于三以及三的倍数的固定搭配：上街最怕三只手（pickpocket），谈恋爱最怕三角恋（love triangle），最小的衣服三角裤（briefs），女生最小的衣服三点式泳衣（bikini suit），中国人最初的启蒙读物三字经（Three Character Primer），最爱看的四大名著之一是《三国演义》（Three Kingdoms/Romance of the Three Kingdoms），当代最出色的妇女是三八红旗手（a woman pace⁃setter），最佳歌手刘三姐（The Third Sister of the Liu Family），广州有三阳开泰（Three Rams Brings Bliss），内蒙有吉祥三宝（Three Lucky Treasures）。
中国人不仅对“三”情有独钟，对三的倍数也爱屋及乌，如：“三十六家花酒店，七十二座管弦楼。”（There are countless taverns and music halls.）（吴敬轩《儒林外史》）“说起家来家有名，家住那绥德三十里铺村，家住在绥德三十里铺村，四妹子活了一个三哥哥，他是奴的知心人。”（You mention my home.My home is famous.It is called 30 Miles Country.The 4th sister cannot live without the 3rd brother.He is my sweat⁃heart.）（陕北民歌《三十里铺》）“我晓得天下黄河九十九道湾，九十九道湾上九十九条船，九十九个老艄把船搬。”（I am aware that there are 99 bends in the Yellow River under the sky.And there are 99 boats in 99 bends.And there are 99 boatmen in 99 boats to pull their sweeps.）（陕北民歌《船夫曲》）
甚至连欧美人厌恶和恐惧的“十三”也是中国人的最爱，如：最有情有义的是“少林寺十三棍僧”（Thirteen Sticks Monks），最好的药是同仁堂的“十三太保”（Colleague Hall Thirteen Druge）。最好的调味品是王守义十三香（Wang Shouyi Thirteen Seasoning），死后最好的去处是明十三陵（the Ming Tombs），《儿女英雄传》里最侠义的女儿是侠女十三妹（Her Thirteenth Younger Sister），黄飞鸿最漂亮的姨太太是十三姨（The Thirteenth Cocubine），张艺谋的最新电影也叫《金陵十三钗》（Thirteen Ladies of Jinling）。
汉译英
●她有一车皮的男朋友。
She has a bunch of boyfriends.
●女人再富也不富，再瘦也不瘦。
No woman can be too rich or too thin.
●站到被告台上她感到万箭穿心。
In the dock，she found scores of arrows piercing her chest.
●这满大街都是腿脚好的，你卖给谁呀？
——小品《卖拐》
●All pacers walk with healthy legs in thestreet，so to whom can we sell a crutch？
（此处“满大街”是一个模糊概念，突出了卖拐的困难，激发了观众的好奇心，想看看大忽悠怎么把拐卖给这些腿脚好的人。）
●宋丹丹：我十分想见赵忠祥。
Song Dandan I would give the world to see Zhao Zhongxiang.
——小品《昨天·今天·明天》
●观众朋友们，我想死你们了！
Hello，every honored guest，I am deadly missing you！
——冯巩
●地球人都知道。
Everybody knows.
——赵本山广告
●一失足成千古恨。
A single slip brings eternal regret.
●等我长大了，我就是悍马了。
When I grow up，I will become into Hummer.
●我年轻的时候那绝对不是吹，柳叶弯眉樱桃口，谁见了我都乐意瞅。俺们隔壁那吴老二，瞅我一眼就浑身发抖。
Without talking big，I was used to be an attractive girl with thin eyebrows，small mouth and red lips.So many people were attracted by me，including my neighbor，named Wu Laoer，who got trembling the moment he saw me.
——小品《昨天·今天·明天》
●狼入侵，小动物们成立敢死队对抗。螳螂说：“我有双刀。”刺猬说：“我满身都是暗器。”天牛边晃触角便唱：“哼哼！我有双节棍，双节棍，哼哼哈嘿！”
The small animals formed a dare⁃to⁃die corps to confront the invasion of wolves.A mantis said，“I have double blade.”A hedgehog said，“I’m covered with hidden weapons.”Then，a longicorn hummed with its long feelers brandished in the air，“Got nan⁃chakus！Hem，ah，hey！”
——短信
●唐宋诗词之最
♢最快的船——两岸猿声啼不住，轻舟已过万重山。（李白）
With monkeys’sad adieus the riverbanks are loud；
My boat has left ten thought mountains far away.
♢最害羞的人——千呼万唤始出来，犹抱琵琶半遮面。（白居易）
Again and again we urged her to appear until she came；
Her face half hid behind a pipa still.
♢最多的愁——问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水向东流。（李煜）
How much sorrow，pray，can a person carry？
Like the spring torrent flowing eastward without tarry.
♢最消瘦的人——帘卷西风，人比黄花瘦。（李清照）
While the autumn wind blew the curtain，it’s been noticed that the lady who is standing inside of room seems to be pining away like Florists Chrysanthemum which planted on the yard.
♢眼力最差的人——众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在灯火阑珊处。（辛弃疾）
A thousand times I search for her in the crowd.
And，suddenly turning my head，
Discover her where the lantern lights are dim.
♢最深的情——桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情。（李白）
The Peach Bloom Deep，a thousand feet in depth，Runneth not so deep as Wang Lun’s thoughts for me command.
♢最大的瀑布——飞流直下三千尺，疑是银河落九天。（李白）
Its torrent dashes down three thousand feet from high；As if the Silver River fell from azure sky.
♢最长的头发——白发三千丈，缘愁似个长。（李白）
My whitening hair has become so long，
Sorrows increase in the same sad song.
♢最长的脸——去年一滴相思泪，今年刚流到腮边。（苏小妹）
Last year a drop of lovesickness tear，this year just flowed to the cheek nearby.
♢最大的门窗——窗含西岭千秋雪，门泊东吴万里船。（杜甫）
My casement frames th’west mounts capped with perennial snow，Outdoors my house are moores ships thousands of li from East Wu.
♢最寂静的空间——千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。（柳宗元）
Not a bird o’er hundreds of peaks，
Not a man on the thousands of trails.
♢最多的爱——后宫佳丽三千人，三千宠爱在一身。（白居易）
Though many beauties were in the palace，
More than three thousand of them，
All his favours were centred on her.
♢最浓的情——金风玉露一相逢，便胜却人间无数。（秦观）
When Autumn’s Golden Wind embraces Dew of Jades，
All the love scenes on earth，however many，fade.
♢最长的情——天长地久有时尽，此恨绵绵无绝期。（白居易）
Heaven and earth may not last for ever，
But this sorrow was eternal.
♢最不幸的——运交华盖欲何求，未敢翻身已碰头。（鲁迅）
What shall I do when my Fortune’s wheel turns and tells so bad.
I get my head bumped even when I dare not turn in bed.
♢最重情的——春蚕到死丝方尽，蜡炬成灰泪始干。（李商隐）
A spring silkworm may not stop spinning silk until death.
A candle’s tears dry only when it is burned down to ashes.
英译汉
●My blood froze.
我的血液都凝固了。
●There are three types of men who do not understand women bachelors，husbands，and.divorced men.
有三种男人不懂女人：光棍、丈夫和离了婚的男人。
●She dressed to kill.
她的衣服太漂亮了。
●So hungry that I can eat an ox.
我饿得能吃下一头牛。
●There you are.I’ve been looking for you forever.
译本一 原来你在这啊，我一直找你来着。
译本二 众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在灯火阑珊处。
●I’m tired to death.
我累死了。
●Son Mum，my stomach is making noise.I’ve got fed up and can’t wait.
Mother No hurry，dear.They are planting the vegetables.
儿子：妈妈，我的肚子饿得咕咕叫，我等不了了，不想再等了。
母亲：不要着急，他们还在种菜。
●A cat has nine lives.
猫有九命。
●One father is more than a hundred school⁃masters.
一个父亲抵得上众多老师。
（用一百个老师来形容老师的数量之多，衬托父亲作用的重要性。）
●The old man lived a year in a minute.
老人度日如年。
●Take TOSHIBA，take the world.
拥有东芝，拥有世界。
——东芝电子广告
●Have not seen you for ages！
好久不见！
●You are a good girl in a thousand.
你是一个百里挑一的好姑娘。
（此句采取的是意译法，范围由“千”缩小为“百”，符合英汉各自不同的文化词汇的使用习惯。）
●To be，or not to be，that is the question；whether，tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.Or to take arms against a sea of troubles.And by opposing end them.
活着还是死去，这是个问题。默默地忍受狂暴命运的毒箭和投石器，是更高贵，还是拿起武器来反抗这海洋般的苦难，通过反抗来结束这些苦恼？
——莎士比亚戏剧《哈姆雷特》（“狂暴命运的毒箭和投石器”和“海洋般的苦难”都是暗喻夸张。）
●I could feel her pain as she must have felt mine on a thousand occasions when I had sought comfort in her arms.
我能感觉到她的痛苦，正如她过去千百次体会到我的痛苦一样，而我过去可以在她的怀抱中寻求安慰。
（句中on a thousand occasions是一种夸张。当小男孩第一次看见妈妈哭泣的时候，他突然感觉到了妈妈的痛苦和压力，正如妈妈过去千百次体会到他的痛苦一样。句中的夸张表现了母亲对孩子的挚爱之情。）
●After a two⁃week vacation a man returned to his office and one of his fellow workers asked him what kind of time he’d had.
“I spent the whole two weeks helping my wife painting the rooms in our house.”He groaned.
“Does she do that often？”
“Well，”came the reply，“When we moved in a few years ago，the guest room was nine by twelve.Now it is eight by eleven.”
两个星期的假期过后，一位男子回到办公室。他的一位同事问他，假期过得怎么样。
“整整两个星期我都在帮助妻子粉刷家里的房间，”他痛苦地说。
“她常常粉刷房间吗？”
“唔，”那位男士说，“几年前，我们搬进去住的时候，客厅是9米宽12米长，现在的客厅宽8米，长11米。”
丈夫夸张的回答既幽默风趣地表达了他对妻子酷爱粉刷墙壁无奈的态度，又婉转而不失风度地批评了妻子。