Is bling in?

May 07, 2017 05:00 pm | Updated June 26, 2017 01:14 pm IST

“That was a pretty long conversation. Were you talking to Sujatha?”

“No, it was my cousin in Chennai. She’s leaving for the States tomorrow. Tell me, when someone picks up the phone, do you say, ‘May I speak to so and so’ or ‘May I speak with so and so’?”

“Both are correct. You can ‘speak to’ or ‘speak with’ someone. In India, people....”

“I see. But is there a difference in meaning between the two?”

“Not really. ‘Speak to’ is much more common in India — the reason being the British use it quite a bit. Americans, on the other hand, tend to say ‘speak with’.”

“I see. You look pretty tired. Was your flight from Kolkata delayed again?”

“No, no! The flight was on time for a change. But we had to wait for our luggage...”

“We? Who did you go with? Was it Jeevan from R&D?”

“This was a sales conference. I went with Saroja Devi. She was...”

“Saroja Devi? Is she the one who wears expensive jewellery and all kinds of...”

“I’ve never seen Saroja wear bling. I think the person you have in mind...”

“Bling? What are you talking about? What’s bling?”

“In informal contexts, the word is used to refer to the expensive clothes or jewellery that people sometimes wear to parties...and on special occasions.”

“So a bling is something that is easily noticeable, I guess.”

“That’s right! People sometimes wear bling just to let others know that they have a lot of money.”

“A status symbol! At the Oscars, some of the actors wore a lot of bling.”

“Good example. It’s also possible to say ‘bling-bling’. The little girls were fascinated by the bling-bling that the young bride was wearing.”

“If you had a lot of money, would you go to parties wearing all your bling?”

“It’s difficult to say. I might...”

“It’s difficult to picture you wearing bling. But stranger things have happened. Ganesh, for example, got his PhD recently. He can’t write and...”

“He can’t speak either! But he’s got a PhD in English literature! Isn’t that amazing?”

“I thought getting a PhD was difficult. How did the supervisor and the examiner....”

“Ganesh’s supervisor was smart. She had the university send his dissertation to three of her friends — all teaching in other universities.”

“And all three okayed the dissertation?”

Quid pro quo

“Yes. It happens all the time. It’s a case of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

“Scratch your back? What are you talking about?”

“It’s an expression mostly used in informal contexts. When you tell someone that you’ll scratch his back if he scratches yours, what you’re saying is that you’ll help him, provided he helps you in return.”

“In other words, the help is conditional. How about this example? I’ll clean the car provided you use your influence and get me tickets to see Baahubali. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

“That’s a good example. Balan and Kavita are not great friends. But they do help each other once in a while. He scratches her back and she scratches his.”

“I don’t think I’m keen on scratching anyone’s back right now.”

* * * *

I have a simple philosophy. Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches. — Alice Roosevelt Longworth

The author teaches at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. upendrankye@gmail.com

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