I am looking for a phrase to describe a "collection of false exaggerations", something that can fit well in the following line:

I am really shocked to see this, it seems that everything you told me before was just a collection of false exaggerations.

I don't think "collection of false exaggerations" is a real phrase. "Bag of lies" is a similar phrase but not with the same meaning.

I am looking for a phrase that can directly replace mine in the above sentence or otherwise any other way to say the above sentence while keeping the feelings same. The feelings here being that my expectations were set too high due to a lot of exaggerated information fed to me.

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tchrist♦

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asked Aug 17, 2013 at 12:43

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  • "False exaggeration"? Exaggerations are inaccurate by definition. What would you consider to be a "true" exaggeration? I think your question may be a non-starter because you are looking for a collective phrase for a nonsensical term.

    Aug 17, 2013 at 13:01

  • Pack of lies seems to fit admirably -- and, perhaps, ironically, since it is itself an exaggeration.

    Aug 17, 2013 at 13:32

  • I'm with @itsbruce. "False exaggerations" doesn't seem right.

    Aug 17, 2013 at 13:34

  • "... a pile of exaggerations" or just "... everything you told me was (just) pure exaggeration." The word "before" is superfluous.

    Aug 17, 2013 at 14:09

  • Exaggeration implies that there was some truth, but that it was over-embellished. "Pack of lies" implies there was no truth. So "pack of lies* is exaggerating because there was actually some truth. (But I'll leave @AndrewLeach to confirm whether my reasoning is the same as his.)

    Aug 17, 2013 at 14:11

4 Answers 4

The term hyperbole means

extravagant exaggeration (as "mile-high ice-cream cones")

It does not necessarily refer to a collection.

You could create a phrase such as a plethora of hyperbole, or some such.

(Or even a hurricane of hyperbole.)

answered Aug 17, 2013 at 13:30

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  • Since creating ridiculously detailed and variegated collective nouns is one of the main fortes of the English language, one might even go a bit crazy and invent something like a cornucopia of hyperbole or a cataclysm of hyperbole. The fact that the collective noun itself is highly hyperbolic is, of course, part of the beauty of it. :-D

    Aug 17, 2013 at 13:50

  • @JanusBahsJacquet Yes. See addition.

    Aug 17, 2013 at 14:02

  • Is hyperbole a countable noun?

    Aug 17, 2013 at 18:23

  • @ThePhoton, I would say no. Using it in a countable way sounds unnatural to me. I just checked a couple of dictionaries, and they all have it listed as a mass noun only, too.

    Aug 17, 2013 at 22:15

  • @JanusBahsJacquet - Based on this article on countable and non-countable nouns, I'd argue that 'hyperbole' is countable. For example 'How many hyperboles were on that page?'.

    Mar 6, 2016 at 20:38

As Andrew Leach comments, the standard idiom (informal, primarily spoken not written) is...

a pack of lies - a completely false story, account, etc.

Tall tales are fanciful and elaborate stories, often highly exaggerated. The phrase specifically refers to American fables that explain the natural world, but is also used by analogy to describe more mundane exaggerated stories. Or as an indirect way to say someone is lying.

A fish story is an exaggerated story that glorifies the teller. It refers to boastful claims by anglers that they hooked a "big one that got away".

answered Aug 17, 2013 at 18:31

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You could simply replace your phrase with the following pleonasm 'exaggerated hyperbole'.

answered Aug 18, 2013 at 19:51

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