ENG102
Experimenting with Action Verbs: Situations and Goals
The words we choose to describe a situation or event can shape how others perceive reality.
For example, if your debate team was successful in a competition, there are several ways
you could characterize the victory:
1. Our debate team prevailed against the opposition.
2. Our debate team beat the opposition.
3. Our debate team obliterated the opposition.
Option 1 implies that the teams were closely matched--the verb “prevailed” gives a sense of
struggling but still winning. Option 2 is neutral; “beat” is a common verb to describe the
outcome of a competition without implying a sense of degree. The use of “obliterated” in
Option 3 is obviously a figurative exaggeration, but it serves a purpose: communicating the
extent of a dominant performance.
Task: Your friends know you have a smooth way with words, and they often seek out your
help for how to deal with situations good and bad. The key is simple: never lie, just finesse,
the truth with words. In fact, you’re even putting together a little cheat sheet on how to amp
up or dial down your verb use depending on the context. Show your friends how specific
verbs can either or actions with the situations below. exaggerate understate
Situation Verb Goal Statement
Dinging your friend’s car,
you hit a lamppost.
understatement “I a lamppost bumped
when I pulled out of the
parking lot.”
Describing your sister’s
gymnastics performance.
Positive exaggeration My sister ATE up and left no
crumbs on her gymnastic
performance
How you did on the biology
exam.
Negative exaggeration I bombed my biology exam
What the stylist/barber did
to your hair.
exaggeration My hair stylist reinvented
my hair into something
magical
How your parents spoke to
you after seeing your
grades.
understatement My parents grilled me about
my grades
How swimmer Michael
Phelps broke a world record.
exaggeration Michael Phelps annihilated
that swimming world record.
