日本語道場
Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2
N2
～と言っても過言ではない
~to itte mo kagon de wa nai
it's not an exaggeration to say
When to use it
Use this when you want to make a strong, superlative-sounding claim while pre-empting the objection that you're overstating things — common in reports, proposals, and presentations where you praise a result, stress a risk, or justify a decision. It is a written/formal-speech register: natural in a 社内報告 or a 挨拶, stiff in casual chat. The spoken variant 言い過ぎではない is softer; ～と言っても過言ではない carries a deliberate rhetorical weight, so overusing it in one document sounds inflated.
Formation
Examples
It's no exaggeration to say this quarter's profit is his achievement.
It's not an overstatement to say this contract will determine our company's future.
It would not be an exaggeration to say the talks were on the verge of collapse.
It's probably no exaggeration to call the delivery delay fatal.
It's no exaggeration to say his one remark changed the course of the meeting.