Wednesday 3 June 2015

Bright and Happy? Or just rather Fluffy?

Did someone confuse me with an oilfield?

Gail came home from work yesterday, looking a bit more ragged than usual.

Something about a near-interminable video conference with a Kuwaiti oil company,  seven hours if you include the prayer breaks.

I could see she needed to let off steam about it, so I lent her a flappy but attentive little ear.

Apparently at this meeting there had been some difficulties with language and understanding, and this even before the Arabic speakers got involved.

Now even a dog, living in Aberdeen Scotland, the so-called 'Oil Capital of Europe', will absorb some of the industry jargon. For example, I find it fascinating how many words are animal related. We know that giant oilfields are 'elephants' whereas regions devoid of oil will be dismissed as 'cow pasture' (or 'moose pasture' to those from Canada). When drilling a 'wildcat' well, one might work in a 'dog house' and place drill pipe in a 'rat hole'. Should one wish to inspect a pipeline, one will probably use an 'intelligent pig'. Yes really!

Given all this colourful vocabulary, perhaps it should come as no surprise to learn that Gail was asked* at one point in this long meeting to distinguish between the 'bright and happy' areas and the 'rather fluffier' areas on her map of an oil field.

But Gail admits she was surprised, and a bit distracted, by this unconventional use of adjectives. Adjectives more commonly associated with, for example, a bouncing wire-haired fox terrier.

Next thing they'll be asking her which parts of the oil map are 'too cute' and which might be 'a tad boisterous'…


*Gail says: Need I add that this unusually phrased question came from an American oilman with an accent indicating origins somewhere below the Mason-Dixon line?


26 comments:

  1. Fluffy oil fields? I's from Texas, where we has oil, but I don't think we has fluffy oil fields.

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  2. Fluffy? Bright and happy?? Don't sound like no Texian oil man... no sirree...

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  3. Bertie - The video conference might have been bad BUT the alternative was worse. You might have had to go visit.

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  4. And this was translated into Arabic successfully?

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  5. Fluffy oil???Bright happy oil???
    I finks I'm confused, isn't oil black and slimy so not remotely bright or fluffy? Well, this pup learns sumfinks new every day!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  6. Good heavens, I had no idea. It's like a whole new language, except more difficult!

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    Replies
    1. It gets worse. Imagine a Doric speaking oil man...

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  7. Hari Om
    The technical language in ANY discipline is always a mystery to the uninitiated, Bertie lad; this, however, smacks of colloquial invention!!!


    ...or was it perhaps that Gail's ears were attuned for WFT references, given how long she must now be parted from your dear sweet presence?!! Hugs and wags YAM-aunty xxx

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  8. MOL MOL MOL MOL Bertie mom and I being South of the Mason Dixon line can truly hear the question asked
    for instances....bright...turned into 'briiiiiiiiiight'. Words like bright, right, light, night have a ton of i's in them when spoken in some regions of the south. And more than likely the endings were left off all words spoken.
    OMDs mom night need to come over before the next conference call to act as a translator. Southern spoken English is nothing like The Queen's English!!
    hugs madiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii your bfff

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  9. One thing we would never think to call an oil field is 'fluffy'.

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  10. Fluffy oil field? That's very funny. Humans have such strange ways of looking at things and/or trying to make things sound different than they really are ...sigh.

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  11. Oh that was interesting, Bertie... I love all that words, we can use it for our daily business too... well, my dad's wallet isn't an elephant but a cow pasture since my mom went shopping today :o)
    easy rider

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  12. FLUFFY OIL..... BaaaaaWaaah that is too funny to think about... Must have been a TEXAN.

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  13. This is hilarious! I love Bella (et al)'s comment!

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  14. fluffy oil field somehow that is very hard to picture

    retro rover

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  15. Fluffy and oil are no match
    Lily & Edward

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  16. I've never heard that slang before! Did he explain what he meant by it?

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    1. Gail says: from the context it was clear that 'bright and happy' meant the areas where you could be confident there would be oil and 'rather fluffy' meant a higher degree of uncertainty!

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  17. Yep...now your speaking Okie language...we are the fourth biggest produce in the US for oil & Gas....Hey....wait a minute...we are below the Mason- Dixon line......but that's OK, cause sometimes we have trouble understand some of them!

    The Mad Scots

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  18. The only problem in dealing with people are that people are involved. Just sayin' . . .

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  19. Hey ya 'll. Mom is originally from Texas. We can relate :)

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  20. We are with Murphy and Stanley...sometimes people are so very frustrating....
    Smileys!
    Dory Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  21. A "fluffier" oil area... holy Swiss cow! This is hilarious. And frustrating.

    Love the post. :)

    Tootsie & Renee

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  22. Oh the Mason-Dixon line that's funny. Living in Ohio why we are northerners but just across the Ohio River is the southerners and you get about four counties into Kentucky and you hit that twang. Why Lee went to a museum once and the curator with white gloves said very simply this wing is dedicated to the North and with a big flourish and southern twang this wing is dedicated to the south.
    Thanks for being a friend
    Sweet William The Scot

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