The tendency to exaggerate -more NT than AS thing(?)

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While I'm not much of a (good) liar as an Aspie, I have been known to exaggerate here and there. And yes that does sound a bit like Mr. Spock in the Wrath of Khan, if I might sound just a tad geeky

However, I would have to say that by and large exaggeration is an NT behaviour. When they say things like "oh man, this whole thing is gonna be the end of me" or "I must have told him this like 200 times" - yeah...that can be somewhat annoying. It's always with a melodramatic or commiserating edge, of course, and I partook of some of it too - but not nearly to the same extent. What bothers me though is that when I'm the subject of the exaggerated remark. One time in a meeting at an old office job, a co-worker was making a statement about some aspect of a project, there were about 12 people present in the room, and she turned to me and explained that the statement really meant such-and-such (which I sort of thought it did, but wasn't 100% sure) - then followed it with the snide comment "I have to explain that to you Jayo, because I know you take everything literally." This prompted some laughter from a couple of meeting members who obviously knew about my "nuance dyslexia" and while I was tempted to respond "that was uncalled for, I don't take everything literally" - I know she would just say "see, I didn't mean literally everything, I was just exaggerating". So I held in my anger and just shrugged it off.

I certainly don't like when people are exaggerating things. So non-factual, so selfish. Yes, sometimes I do some but people tend to think I'm doing it even when my remark is only a bit "off".

I think that making fun of you, particularly in front of other people in a meeting, can be considered as a harrassment.

I think most people tend to exaggerate a bit sometimes just to emphasize the point that they are making. But still I'd say people with AS might have a tendency to try to stick to facts, hence avoinding exaggerations. I myself have that tendency/urge to stick to facts even when it's not that important. When I do exaggerate, I am very painfully aware of my exaggeration and feel very uncomfortable.

This thread has 200 posts.

Some guy phoned me up at City Hall and complained his tapwater was the "colour of coffee" so I waste my time going out to check it out. It did not look like coffee, hardly weak tea. This was normal in this town's water supply in late spring. I was really annoyed at his misleading information. I am sure he thought his gross hyperbole was harmless.

Why can't people be accurate in their statements?