Caricature

[skinem]

car·i·ca·ture
Pronunciation: 'ker-i-k&-"chur, -"ch&r, -"tyur, -"tur, -'ka-ri-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian caricatura, literally, act of loading, from caricare to load, from Late Latin carricare
1 : exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics
2 : a representation especially in literature or art that has the qualities of caricature
3 : a distortion so gross as to seem like caricature

The history of how this word came from meaning "act of loading" to it's present day meaning would be interesting (to me).

[Stargzer]

The Online Etymology Dictionary shows the following:

caricature
1748, from Fr. caricature, from It. caricatura "satirical picture," lit. "an overloading," from caricare "to load, exaggerate," from V.L. carricare (see charge). The It. form had been used in Eng. from c.1682.

A link there leads us to a particularly Gaulling entry at Dictionary.com:

Word History: The history of the word caricature takes us back through the centuries to a time when the Romans occupied Gaul, offering the blessings of civilization to the Gauls but also borrowing from them as well. One such borrowing, the Gaulish word *karros, meaning "a wagon or cart," became Latin carrus, "a Gallic type of wagon." This Latin word has continued to roll through the English language, giving us car, career, cargo, carry, and charge, among others. Caricature, another offspring of carrus, came to us via French from Italian, in which caricatura, the source of the French word, was derived from Italian caricare, "to load, burden, or exaggerate." Caricare in turn came from Late Latin carricāre, "to load," derived from the Romans' Gaulish borrowing carrus.

[skinem]

Why, thank you!
I guess I can see how load and exaggerate could be related.
I know when I've heard a load of bull...

[Stargzer]

... as opposed to a load pulled by a bull ...

Wait a minute! Whose post were you talking about?

[skinem]

Ha! Oh, no, no, no. No one's post here. I just meant that after a certain amount of "life-experience", I have gained that useful ability.

Not, that anyone here, including me, would never, ever exaggerate.

[Bailey]

Nice clean up Skinny.

mark heh-heh Bailey

[gailr]

Not, that anyone here, including me, would never, ever exaggerate.

My dad's favorite reply to this type of statement was:
"Not unless you were alone or with friends."
-gailr

[Perry]

This seems like a very loaded topic to me.