I have a usage question that occurred to me while listening to NPR recently. There was a piece full of praise for a person who has done a lot of good. The anchor used a phrase like, “It’s hard to underestimate the value of blah blah’s contribution…” In context, it clearly meant that the value of said contribution was very high indeed. The phrasing, however, struck me as wrong. It hit me in the same place “I could care less” hits me, in that it doesn’t seem to mean what its user meant it to. Wouldn’t “it’s hard to underestimate” indicate that the value is low, so it would be difficult for your estimate to come in under that? Wouldn’t a more accurate wording be “it’s hard to overestimate,” because the value is so high that your estimates will fall short every time?

Or am I thinking on an entirely incorrect plane and it more likely means “the value of the contribution is so obviously high that it would be hard to get away with underestimating it without looking like a boob.”

This is not an important question by any measure but it bugged me enough when I heard it to stick with me a couple of days.

Thanks,

Someone Who Has Nothing Better To Worry About, Clearly