bunyanize
/ˈbənyəˌnīz
/verb [with object]
Cause (someone) to appear heroic or larger than life: How are you going to allow teachers to finish their work if you keep bunyanizing them?...
- I myself believe that the Gods of all realms, from the lowest to highest, do not want us to bunyanize them, but rather to understand them.
- How, then, are you going to allow teachers to finish their work if you keep bunyanizing them?
- Besides the creation of artificial folk heroes, or the Bunyanizing of genuine ones, mass culture breeds its own special varieties of folklore.
Origin
Late 20th century: after Paul Bunyan, legendary American giant lumberjack.