i love talking about nothing. it is the only thing i know anything about. – oscar wilde

W is one of those guys who simply revels in using what the more ignorant among us – of come on, i for one am proud to vouch for the utter bliss that smiles upon embracing ignorance – would call ‘sophisticated’ language. ie, complex language. naturally, not many people talk to him because of this complication. and in that light, he does not like to talk to a lot of people either because well, people just cannot keep up. it is not that he uses bad language, or wrong language for that matter. it is just that he has a complicated way of talking the right way.

you see, he likes to talk about complicated ideas, which is quite fascinating to a linguist. complicated ideas equals complicated language – and that makes me as gleeful as a schoolgirl on cotton candy.

so while the academic side of me turns into a squealing linguist, the more refined side of me – and yes my good lads, if does exist – sits here, utterly amused. W likes to talk to me. i am one of those who can actually keep up with what he has to say, and he appreciates that. i guess so do i. you see, some people don’t mean to make things so complicated. it is just in their nature to see strange and unique dimensions like that.

see, some people don’t mean to use big words and complex sentence structures. it is just how they talk.

in the past four days, i have had to don my blazer, make sure every strand of hair is perfectly in place, load up on that hoity toity diva persona that i oh so relish in, and surround myself in an entire convention of people like W. i was a delegate in a major international conference in town. not that i was complaining. it was a tremendously exciting experience attended by some royally senior members of the industry.

and so there i was listening to hours long speeches with words such as ‘notwithstanding,’ ‘geopolitics,’ ‘commercial liberalisation,’ interdependency,’ ‘stakeholder engagement,’ ‘working in silos,’ ‘resource mobilisation,’ ‘sustainability insufficiency,’ – you get the idea la. it might appear like a load of stiff upper lip, hoity toity, but to me, it is incredibly sexy. oh, and more than one delegate had described the industry i am in as sexy. *wide grin*

thing is, the forums i attended were paneled by not just a bunch of energizer bunnies. there were some real intelligent thinkers and analysts, and we deliberated on a range of sustainability topics – finance, economics, law, geopolitics – ya, aku pun dah nak pakai big words in my sentences tau! – climate change, engagements, etc. current issues. histories. theories. dimensions, forecasts. operations. ideologies. big ideas and i do mean BIG IDEAS. and big ideas and big language just goes so so SO well together.

i will have my dose of mindless, perverted comedy now, please – before my head gets too full of itself.