Las locuciones hiperbólicas

Abstract In contrast to the case of metaphorical and metonymical idioms, there is no research specifically concerned with Spanish hyperbolic idioms. This article shows that it is possible to apply different definitions and characterizations of hyperbole to idioms that should be considered hyperbolic. The analysis is based on idiomaticity and is supported by the distinction between the literal and idiomatic meanings of these fixed expressions. In the conclusions, seven criteria are established to identify hyperbolic idioms, and the types are differentiated according to: 1) the conceptual mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy that explain their formation, 2) the form and meaning of their constituent parts, and 3) the semantic fields in which they are included. Finally, we point out the need to continue analyzing these types of idioms from both a theoretical and an applied perspective, in the latter case with a possible view to marking them as hyperbolic in dictionaries.