# novel (hyperbole)



## elroy

In English, “novel” is used hyperbolically to refer to a (usually unexpectedly) long piece of writing (an e-mail, a forum post, etc.).

*I asked a simple question.  I didn’t expect a novel!* <reacting to a long answer>

*I’ll have to read his novel later.* <a long forum post, private message, e-mail, etc.>

Palestinian Arabic uses* جريدة /ʒari:de/ (“newspaper”)* for this, and Italian uses *“libro” (“book”)*.  I believe German uses *“Roman” (“novel”)*, like English.

What about other languages?


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## apmoy70

We use *«δράμα»* [ˈðrama] (neut.) --> _theatre play, novel, tragical event, stage event_ < Classical deverbative neuter noun *«δρᾶμα» drâmă* --> _deed, act, office, business, duty, drama, theatre play, tragical event_ < Classical v. *«δράω/δρῶ»** drắō* (uncontracted)/*drô* (contracted).


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## elroy

So δράμα is used for both "play" and "novel"?


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## apmoy70

elroy said:


> So δράμα is used for both "play" and "novel"?


Δράμα in MoGr is the dramatic novel (with sad & tragical concequences for the protagonist), the generic name for "novel" is *«νουβέλα»* [nuˈve̞la] (fem.) < Fr. nouvelle. However in this case, we use δράμα indeed (as a hyperbole).


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## elroy

Oh, okay.  I thought these were all translations of δράμα:


apmoy70 said:


> *«δράμα»* [ˈðrama] (neut.) --> _theatre play, novel, tragical event, stage event_


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## apmoy70

elroy said:


> Oh, okay.  I thought these were all translations of δράμα:


They are indeed, but in the vernacular we use it for a dramatic event/stage/novel. Δράμα literally is just an action.


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## elroy

So you use δράμα to refer to a literal novel?


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## apmoy70

Yep, if it's dramatic enough


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## Trisia

I believe Romanian uses mostly "disertație" (MA thesis) for this purpose.


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh*

We agree in part with the Romanians - *traethawd* (n.m.f.) (An essay - of any sort, but often an academic one.)

I'd be more likely to use *llith* (n.f.m.) however. This is 'a lesson' (in the ecclesiastical sense).


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## Awwal12

elroy said:


> What about other languages?


Probably the most typical word in Russian is портянка (portyánka, "footwrap"), which is frequently used for a big amount of (generally excessive) text, but it's pretty derogatory.
Cf. also:
- Are you writing War and Peace here? (when writing takes much longer than expected; War and Peace is usually hated by school students for its immense length)


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## Perseas

@apmoy70
I think @elroy refers to "a long piece of writing (an e-mail, a forum post, etc.)".


elroy said:


> In English, “novel” is used hyperbolically to refer to a (usually unexpectedly) long piece of writing (an e-mail, a forum post, etc.).


What do you think of "μυθιστόρημα" (=novel/fiction) or "βιβλίο" (=book) in this context?
Another option is "έγραψε την ιστορία της ζωής του" ("he wrote the story of his life").
In slang, I'd say "σεντόνι" (=sheet) fits in this context.


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## Nanon

French does, both in the sense of a long piece of writing and of "nothing to write home about", and there is a thread about it: en faire un roman
If the piece of writing is particularly lengthy, you may be even more sarcastic and say _roman-fleuve_ - which I understand is also a word in English but can be used figuratively in French, not just about a (long) family saga or novel sequence.


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## Roxxxannne

In addition to 'novel,' English has 'saga' for a long spoken narrative: He told me the whole saga of his being lost in the woods, being soaked by the rain, getting hypothermia, meeting Selena Gomez, etc. etc.

Also 'dissertation' for something written:  I asked for a five-paragraph essay on your first pet, not a dissertation on the diseases and nutritional needs of bunny rabbits and chinchillas.  [I didn't see Trisia's comment #9 before I wrote this.]


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## Ghabi

Awwal12 said:


> Probably the most typical word in Russian is портянка (portyánka, "footwrap"), which is frequently used for a big amount of (generally excessive) text, but it's pretty derogatory.


Cf. Mandarin: "An old lady's foot-binding cloth -- both stinky and long" (老太婆的裹脚布--又臭又長)


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## סייבר־שד

In Mexico you would most likely come across either *novela *("novel") or *tesis *("dissertation"), though *libro *("book") could pop up, as well.
Then again, if we're talking about an usually quite short piece of writing like say, a tweet or a Telegram/Whatsapp message, you may hear *carta *("letter"), as well.

And I _should_ know about all this, since I'm afraid I was still quite prone to doing that not that many years ago, to the point that a keypal of mine from Australia once received an e-mail I'd written for her that was around 100 pages long on Word, using the old, handy Times New Roman font in 12 pt. size, if my memory serves me right...


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## amikama

In Hebrew: *מגילה* or *מגילות* = scroll(s).

בסך הכל שאלתי שאלה פשוטה מאוד - לא ציפיתי שתכתוב לי מגילות!

אצטרך לפנות את כל אחה״צ כדי לקרוא את המגילה שהוא שלח לי.


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## elroy

סייבר־שד said:


> around 100 pages long on Word


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## bearded

elroy said:


> Italian uses *“libro” (“book”)*



But we, too, can say ''a novel'' : *un romanzo*. This is even more common.
_Hai scritto un romanzo! _(you wrote a novel: a very long piece of writing as a reply etc.).


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## סייבר־שד

elroy said:


>


Yeah...  It sure was a good thing we were both really interested in what each other had to say, because her reply was almost equally long.


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## elroy

To summarize the answers given so far:

*novel*: English, German, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian
*newspaper*: Palestinian Arabic
*book*: Italian, Greek, Spanish
*play*: Greek
*dissertation*: Romanian, English, Spanish
*essay*: Welsh 
*lesson*: Welsh
*footwrap*: Russian, Mandarin
*story of one's life*: Greek
*sheet*: Greek
*roman-fleuve*: French
*letter*: Spanish
*scroll(s)*: Hebrew 

So many different metaphors!


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## alfaalfa

Ciao,
_Hai scritto un *papiro *_> you wrote a papyrus is pretty common too.


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## elroy

Interesting!  I don't think "papyrus" is countable in English.  I would say a "papyrus scroll" or something.


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## Penyafort

I don't think there is a fixed equivalent in Catalan. Several ones referring to long texts could be used for that.

I asked a simple question. I didn't expect a novel!​_Volia una resposta simple, no m'esperava _*una novel·la* (a novel) / *una tesi* (a dissertation) /* un llibre* (a book).​
When someone's writing an unexpectedly long text, one can also hear:

_Què escrius, *les memòries* / *la teva biografia*?  _'What are you writing? Your memoirs? / Your biography?'​


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## Roxxxannne

elroy said:


> Interesting!  I don't think "papyrus" is countable in English.  I would say a "papyrus scroll" or something.


_Papyrus _is countable when it refers to texts written on papyrus:
"Among the papyri was the journal of a previously unknown official ..."
"... I proposed to put together a panel on early Christian papyri ..."

It's similar to "The journal publishes *papers* in the fields of linguistics and psychology" and "The note is written on lined *paper;* the text is countable and the substance can be countable or uncountable.


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## rarabara

elroy said:


> In English, “novel” is used hyperbolically to refer to a (usually unexpectedly) long piece of writing (an e-mail, a forum post, etc.).
> 
> *1) I asked a simple question.  I didn’t expect a novel!* <reacting to a long answer>
> 
> *2) I’ll have to read his novel later.* <a long forum post, private message, e-mail, etc.>
> 
> Palestinian Arabic uses* جريدة /ʒari:de/ (“newspaper”)* for this, and Italian uses *“libro” (“book”)*.  I believe German uses *“Roman” (“novel”)*, like English.
> 
> What about other languages?


in ,Turkish , we have simple classifications for such distinctions to me.
For instance the first sentence (above) is not used in its real meaning (i.e. there is a definition as "real meaning" , this can be divided into two subdefinitions termynologic real meaning (this is also real but separated from the real meaning with the meaning to what it reminds you when that word called. For instance, we use hand for human's body part. but if you use it for example for tortoises' hand , then it is a termynologic real meaning. ) and there are some words that have no relation with their real meanings. like your first sentence ,it is metaphoric meaning. but the second one is real meaning and not termynologic meaning , it is the (exact ) real meaning.


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