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I'm having a hard time differentiating between hyperboles and idioms.

The sentence I have is calling someone a "dating app unicorn" because they know how to carry on a conversation. Would that be an idiom or a hyperbole?

Any pointers would be much appreciated!

Thanks, Danielle

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    Hyperbole is like the Super Bowl only bigger!
    – Hot Licks
    Commented May 14, 2020 at 21:21
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    OED - Hyperbole: a. Rhetoric. A figure of speech - [an] exaggerated ... statement, used to express strong feeling or produce a strong impression, and not intended to be understood literally. e.g. "I have told you a million times to look in a dictionary for the answer to such questions." ++ Idiom A form of expression, ... specially. a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from the meanings of the individual words. e.g. "People who don't look in dictionaries are a sandwich short of a picnic."
    – Greybeard
    Commented May 14, 2020 at 22:40
  • @Greybeard Another comedian.
    – Richard Kayser
    Commented May 14, 2020 at 23:28
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    You lost me at dating app unicorn. It might be an idiom because of the use of the word unicorn, but it's not an idiom I recognize. This would be hyperbolic: You are the best conversationalist of all time, and I mean EVER EVER EVER!!! I suppose calling someone a unicorn could be hyperbolic -- we've all heard talk of them but none of us has ever seen one. Unicorns are rare to say the least.
    – Richard Kayser
    Commented May 14, 2020 at 23:37

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That is not an idiom because an idiom is a standard usage.

It is hyperbole because it exaggerates the person's uniqueness and desirability.

It is also a metaphor because the person is not a legendary creature.

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  • But note that "unicorn" is an idiom of sorts, even though it's only one word.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented May 14, 2020 at 22:43
  • Thanks! And it looks like it's written just as "hyperbole" and not like I had written "a hyperbole" Is that right?
    – Danielle
    Commented May 14, 2020 at 23:29

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