hyperventilate

The Guardianの劇評家のLyn Gardnerが寄稿した記事から英語表現を拾います。記事では、The Spectatorの劇評家Lloyd Evansの記事を引用しつつ、近年の批評家と観客の関係について議論をしています。たしかに3/5スターのレビューが多いことや、mediocreに対して大騒ぎしてることは、少し気になります。

さて、hyperventilateは本来は、"to breathe too quickly or too deeply, so that you get too much oxygen and feel dizzy"という意味ですが(LDOCE)、ここでは単純にenthuseのような意味合いで使用されているような気がします。(Othello)

Are theatre critics too soft? | Stage | The Guardian
Evans may be right in thinking we do a disservice to theatre and audiences when we hyperventilate over the mediocre. There are undeniably masses of three-star reviews, but very few two- and one-star reviews.

Yet are critics more inclined to rave than they once were? Perhaps recession has encouraged kindness, although it's no kindness if people spend their money and are then disappointed. Equally, perhaps the tendency of audiences to rise to their feet and cheer the merely competent is having some kind of effect on reviews. Are reviewers too keen to praise, as Evans suggests – and do you feel critics should be more critical? Tell us what you think.