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A book or a situation or an event can be hilarious. But hysterical? (Excuse my sentence fragment.) Why do educated people say that a non-sentient item is hysterical? And why am I the only one who feels like puking when I hear it?

Joe C
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    Have you looked up hysterical in a dictionary? What did it say? Why do you believe that using it as a synonym of hilarious is or ought to be nauseating? (To put it another way, your "question" is a thinly disguised rant rather than an actual honest question. If you want this to remain open, you might want to edit what you wrote.) – Marthaª Feb 27 '16 at 03:28
  • In "Oh that's hysterical", "hysterical" is used in the sense of "provoking hysteria", and "hysteria" simply means "uncontrollable laughter". But if that's going to make you puke then people probably don't want to invite you to the party anyway. – Hot Licks Feb 27 '16 at 03:29
  • Perhaps you would the word to be limited to referring to a woman's uterus? Language evolves. If people can use literally to mean figuratively, they can certainly use hysterical as a hyperbole to hilarious. – anongoodnurse Feb 27 '16 at 03:40
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this question is just a rant in disguise. – anongoodnurse Feb 27 '16 at 03:42
  • @medica - The odd thing is, I can't even figure out what the rant is about. – Hot Licks Feb 27 '16 at 03:45
  • @HotLicks - Who knows... I do find the OP's use of hyperbole amusing in the face of his rant. Maybe that's all this is, a joke. (?) – anongoodnurse Feb 27 '16 at 03:50
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    @medica There is an apocryphal story that a Viennese doctor stormed out of one of Freud's lectures on hysteria because Freud diagnosed hysteria in men, which the irate doctor felt was medically impossible because it was etymologically absurd. – deadrat Feb 27 '16 at 05:58
  • Not sure if this post was the inspiration for this question: Usage of “hysterical” meaning “very funny.” but it does show how a "disgruntled" opinion can be turned into a useful and more constructive question. – Mari-Lou A May 16 '16 at 08:54

2 Answers2

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Because language is not mechanical. Language works by inference and suggestion and the invocation of images and memories. Language also works by folding out unnecessary words, which is why "But hysterical?" is not a fragment but a complete thought with the words "how can it be" elided out.

I can't answer your second question, of course, but it does seem that some people are offended by this essential property of language and want language to operate in a more mechanical fashion, more like computer code.

It is certainly true that language is often technically ambiguous, and often creates what are technically non sequiturs. The ambiguity is resolved, for most hearers, because they recognize the inferences being made and follow the path of the story being told because they recognize its form and shape independent of the literal or mechanical meaning of the text. But even those who are sometimes offended by these things often don't realize how deep they run and how laborious, if not downright impossible, communication would be without them.

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Definition:

hys·ter·i·cal

həˈsterək(ə)l/ - adjective

  1. deriving from or affected by uncontrolled extreme emotion. "hysterical laughter"

Why would someone say an object is "hysterical"?

I feel like the usage of the word "hysterical" has evolved through casual conversation over time. "Extreme emotion" can be taken in many ways and from many perspectives. In the case of someone that says: "That hat is hysterical!" The person is implying that ", to me" be added to the end of the sentence. The statement is meant to convey their relationship with the hat--they are "hysterical" due to the hat's presence.

At this point, casual grammar has evolved to the point where saying ", to me" at the end is no longer necessary because it is assumed by the context and usage of the word "hysterical".

kondrak
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