UNDERSTATEMENT

Welcome to this lecture headed “UNDERSTATEMENT”. We will be discussing all about understatement. Enjoy your lecture.

An understatement is a figure of speech used by writers or speakers to deliberately make a situation appear less significant than it actually is.

Understatement normally has an ironic effect as a uniformly passionate response is expected in serious situations but the statement in response is the opposite of what was expected i.e. less intense but of course with an ironical tone.

For example, your friend returns your new suit with blemishes all over it; in response, you make an understatement, “It doesn’t look too bad”.

Thus, an understatement is opposite to another figure of speech hyperbole or an overstatement.

This literary device refers to the an act of drawing attention to a fact that is already clear and noticeable.

Understatement of a fact is normally done by way of sarcasm, irony, wryness or any other form of dry humor.

Understating something is similar to exaggerating its starkness as a means of humor.

Example: 

“Oh! I wonder if he could get any later; I am free all day long”.

Said in a sarcastic tone it shows that the speaker clearly intends to say the exact opposite of the literal meaning.

In David Edding’s ‘The Tamuli’, Emperor Sarabian refers to a hurricane as “a light breeze”, the loss of half his fleet as “a minor inconvenience”, the imminent collapse of his empire as “some civil unrest.”

The Tamulis, according to the novel, have a tendency towards extreme politeness, which makes them understate every serious thing so as not to offend.

The meaning of the understatement alters according to the context.

Understatement is a significant rhetorical device that is merely the opposite of hyperbole.

In hyperbole, everything is exaggerated, while in understatement the strength of the statement is significantly reduced.

The examples provided below will assist you to understand understatement in its appropriate context. 

Examples Of Understatement

“It’s a bit yellow” – when you want to describe a very yellow canary.

“There is some music by Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony” – while describing Beethoven’s famous work.

“The desert is sometimes dry and sandy” – While describing the driest desert in the world.

“It is just a little cool today” – when the temperature outside is 5 below zero.

“The food was tolerable” – on the food that was prepared by the best chef in the world.

“The cars drove at a fair clip” – while watching a car race.

“I know a little about running a company” – comment by a successful businessman.

“I think we have slightly different opinions on this topic” – rather than saying I don’t agree with you at all.

“It was ok” – when a top ranker was asked about his exam results.

“I wouldn’t say he was thin” – describing a very obese person.

“He is a little on the old side” – describing a very old person.

“I wouldn’t say it tasted great” – on terrible food.

“Abuja is not the cheapest place in the world” – instead of saying Abuja is expensive.

“We have had a little rain” – when the whole area is flooded.

“It’s just a scratch” – when there is a massive depression.

Examples of the use of understatement In Literature

“You have this wonderfully evocative way about you, Luke, of reducing the most excruciatingly uncomfortable circumstances to the merely mundane.” – In ‘Splinter of the Mind’s Eye’.

“People tended not to speak to Chrysoprase in case they said something that offended him. They wouldn’t know it at the time, of course. They’d know it later, when they were in some dark alley and a voice behind them said: Mr. Chrysoprase is really upset.” – In ‘Soul Music’.

“It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine.” – In ‘Blandings Castle’.

“I understand he has given uniform satisfaction, sir.” – P.G Woodehouse character Jeeves on Shakespere.

“We teachers are rather good at magic, you know.”- In ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’.

“There will be … displeasure.” – The consequences that the Soviet general says they face if they don’t humiliate British intelligence in ‘From Russia with Love’.

“And you, who have told me a hundred times how deeply you pitied me for the sorceries by which I was bound, will doubtless hear with joy that they are now ended forever. There was, it seems, some small error in your Ladyship’s way of treating them.” – In ‘The Silver Chair’.

Daine: “I lost my temper.” – In ‘Emperor Mage’, when Daine finds out that her teacher was killed, she resurrects an army of dinosaur skeletons, sets half of the killer’s imperial palace on fire, destroys the other half, and sets a pack of angry hyenas on him.

“To say the Israelis were taken by surprise is to say the Great Wall of China is long.” – In ‘Left Behind’.

“I’ve always been a massive admirer of the Edenist ability to understate. But I think defining a chunk of land fifteen kilometers across that suddenly takes flight and wanders off into another dimension as a little problem is possibly the best example yet.” – In ‘Nights Dawn Trilogy’.

Mom: It’s okay. Your father and I were just having a little disagreement. Main Character: Yeah, and Mount Everest is a hill. – In ‘Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie’, the parents are loudly arguing when the mom sees the children watching.

“I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” – In the ‘Catcher in the Rye’.

In Films

“Okay. Successful test.” – Just after annihilating a cleaning cart in ‘Ghostbusters’.

“You killed my family. And I don’t like that kind of thing.” – In ‘The Chosen One’.

“She’s a little sensitive.” – Describing Moaning Myrtle in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’.

“There has been an incident on Praxis.” – In ‘Star Trek VI’ on the destruction of Praxis.

“It would appear someone objected to this union and wasn’t able to hold their peace.” – In ‘Kill Bill’ in response to the massacre at the bride’s wedding.

“You met me at a very strange time in my life.”- In ‘Fight Club’

“Tickled” – When asked how his execution by firing squad went in ‘Wolverine’.

“This is gonna ruin my whole day.” – After getting shot in ‘Avatar’

“Cannibalism is frowned upon in most societies.” – In ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

“It’s just a flesh wound.” – In ‘The Black Knight’, after having both arms cut off, in ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’

“Well, that’s cast rather a gloom over the evening, hasn’t it?”- On being visited by the Grim Reaper in Monty Python’s ‘The Meaning of Life’

The use of understatement is used when the writer or speaker wants to be polite or modest. It is as well a brilliant tool for mockery.

By expressing something in way that is lesser than the gravity of the situation is an understatement.

Frequently used Understatement

More examples have been provided to enhance your knowledge of understatement:

1. “Deserts are sometimes hot, dry and sandy” while describing deserts of the world.

2. “He is not too thin” while describing an obese person.

3. “It rained a bit more than usual” while describing an area being flooded after heavy rainfall.

Examples of Understatement in Literature

1. In Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield says:

“I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.”

Having a tumor in the brain is a grave issue, but has been understated in the given example

2. In Emperor Mage, a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, Diana states (as if she has done nothing wrong):

“I lost my temper.”

This is an understatement that Diana makes, after raising an army of dinosaur skeletons to destroy the king and afterwards, she destroys the imperial palace in order to avenge the death of her teacher.

3. In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin,

[Aunt Sally] “Good gracious, anybody hurt?”

[Huck] “No. me killed a nigger”

It is one of the understatement examples present in Twain’s literary pieces. Huck’s response, “no. me killed a nigger” exposes the thinking of the people back then, who did not consider black men humans. Killing a black man was not taken as something grave.

4. Have a look at the understatement in the extract from Night’s Dawn Trilogy written by Peter F. Hamilton;

“I’ve always been a massive admirer of the Edenist ability to understate. But I think defining a chunk of land fifteen kilometers across that suddenly takes flight and wanders off into another dimension as a little problem is possibly the best example yet.”

Uses of Understatement

An understatement is a tool that assists to create other figures of speech like irony and sarcasm through a deliberate reduction of the seriousness of the situation when a more forceful response is anticipated by the listeners or the readers.

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua