Hi! What should be the real meaning to this sentence? "The importance of scientific study cannot be overvalued." Two guesses from me: 1. We can't overvalue scientific study's importance. 2. Scienti

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Shana

Hi! What should be the real meaning to this sentence? "The importance of scientific study cannot be overvalued." Two guesses from me: 1. We can't overvalue scientific study's importance. 2. Scientific study is super important, so it's OK to overvalue it. In English, a sentence includes double negative parts will be converted to a positive sentence. My textbook tells that OVERVALUE includes negative meaning, so the meaning should be the 2nd. Is this right? I would select the first meaning if I haven't checked the answer.

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It’s an exaggerated way to add emphasis. It means: Scientific study is extremely important.

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Scientific study is very important so we should cherish it and reserve it and have a safehold over it.

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The "impossibility of overstatement (or understatement)" is a style for expressing extremity. It can serve as a substitute for using the trite word "very". Here are some examples: "You cannot overestimate the politeness of the British" means the British are very polite. "You cannot underestimate the competence of the managers" means the managers are very incompetent. "You cannot overstate the importance of looking both ways before crossing the street" means it is very important to look both ways.

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Interestingly, they chose to modify "importance" rather than "scientific study." Is it its importance we value so much? Or the study itself? A more typical and better way to state this would be to use "overstate" rather than "overvalue."

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Context would help. This type of statement would be within a company that is going to reduce the budget on the scientific department. Arguing against that, would be the "the importance of scientific *** cannot be overvalued. Overvalued would be a financial term. And as others stated, this is an exaggeration. In literature it's called a Hyperbole. Outside of a business setting, the statement should be ...the word "overstated" instead of overvalued, but context isn't clear. Meaning: Scientific study is very important.

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