As I noted the other day, this is particularly true for software devices and other complex products, where trivial changes can be exaggerated in an effort to run out the clock on a patent.

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The United States still has big problems with race (see article), but its effect in the general election may be exaggerated.

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Privately, some diplomats concede that the numbers may be exaggerated by regional officials who have business contracts in the lucrative and booming security sector in countries like Nigeria.

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"The excitement of the last four years in obesity research can't be exaggerated, " says Professor O'Rahilly.

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The losses in SIVs seem to us to be exaggerated.

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Many people point to the Iranian influence in Iraq but I believe this to be exaggerated.

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They explain that the long hours worked by young lawyers in large law firms can be rationalised as an exaggerated signal of commitment to their firm.

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Nonita Kalra, the executive editor of the Indian edition of international fashion magazine Elle, similarly believes the power of the media in determining women's beauty aspirations should not be exaggerated.

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Sir Stephen Wall, who is very keen on the UK remaining in the EU, concedes that in economic terms, the consequences of leaving should not be exaggerated.

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This is the beauty of animation: it allows a cerebral joke to expand through, say, exaggerated facial expressions that a human being might not be able to perform, or have a character in a setting not normally available in real life (when was the last time you traveled to a liger breeding facility?).

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