Exaggerations

What is your opinion of exaggerations? I have told the kids many times that exaggerations are not true statements - in other words - lies. People often throw around words like love, hate, awesome, disgusting, ... It's common to hear someone say, "I love ice cream!" Well, do they really "love" ice cream, or do they like to eat it a lot? Or how about the word awesome? God is awesome, soccer might be fun to play, but it is not awesome. Extreme statements, exaggerations, words used in the wrong way - that bugs me. I don't want my husband to tell me he loves me and turn around and say how much he loves Georgia football. What about that? Is it just a technicality or do words mean what they mean? Should we be sticklers for correct wording?

How about your children? Do you allow extreme speech? When our girls were small, we never allowed them to say the word hate. Hate is a strong word reserved for sin and Satan, I really don't want to diminish its effect by using it on something like spinach. When Abigail learns to say, "I love you," I want her to understand what she is saying. When Mary says, "I love to read," I don't jump up and call her a liar. I know what she means, but I might question whether or not she really loves her books or if they are very important.

Years ago we read a book called, Little Daisy and the Swearing Class. I was struck by how offended this small child was when she heard someone "swear". The main idea of the book was well taken in our household- words mean something, use them carefully. Now when I hear my little girl say something like, "I'm so mad, I could punch him in the face." I have to stop her. Could she really punch someone in the face? Words mean something, don't use ridiculous statements to get your point across. Say what you mean.

Now I know I'm going out on a limb here. I often don't use words correctly. I love chocolate and my husband. I hate for people to be mean and I hate getting wet. I need to be careful to distinguish truth from fiction just as much as the next person. (And I also know that I often skip from first, second, third person in writing. Technicalities aren't always consistent are they?)