Monday, May 30, 2011

Big girl words

At my current job, I spend about 97% of my time writing.  Its a constant stream of words.  They are not the all-time-time words I normally use like, "for cereal" and "totes" and "outie 5000" and "incharge marge" they are those really fancy grown up words that mean the same thing but don't like a 12 year old girl and a stoner got together and wrote a dictionary ("kind regards," "facilitate," "complimenting," "to be sure" etc etc).

And then on the other side of that - I am also writing in the absurd because my job is, ever so slightly, the most absurd thing in the universe.  So my fancy pants grown up language gets juxtaposed with these words that most people don't ever find an excuse to use (especially in their work life).

So I write proposals - and I find myself using these stupid words over and over again.  Facilitate is the worst.  I know that it is a good word as it completely accurately describes what we are doing but it also just sounds so fancy and weird.  And boring.  Conference calls get facilitated, and board meetings, and meetings where you have graphs on foam core.  The things we do get taught and they get bribed and tricked and coerced and bamboozeled.  Although, I guess perhaps its the same with the board meetings and what not.

I know how lucky I am to be getting to write my proposals instead of the financial/engineering/whatever ones that would make me claw my eyes out with a spoon.  I use the same words but for ultimately a better purpose, which, I guess, is what makes it okay.

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She's pint-sized and amazing.