What it might be like

“You’re dreamy.”

“I’m married.”

“I am aware of your marital status.”

“Then what do you hope to gain?”

“Gain?”

“By telling me that I’m dreamy.”

“I’m not sure that I hope to gain anything. I look at you, and you are dreamy, and as I apparently am, in this moment, unfettered by inhibition or self-censorship, I feel compelled to express to you that I find you dreamy.”

“What are you trying to express to me? That I’m dreamy or that you find me dreamy?”

“What do you mean?”

“At first you simply stated I was dreamy. A matter of opinion, sure. But you were only talking about me. Then you said that you find me dreamy, explicitly casting yourself as a finder of dreaminess. In the first case you are simply paying me a compliment, assuming that I find the term ‘dreamy’ to be a compliment. In the second case you are drawing special attention to the fact that it is you who finds me dreamy, implying that finding me dreamy is something that makes you special and worthy of notice.”

“Is there really a difference? Either way you’re dreamy.”

“Yes, but in the second case you are overtly trying to get my attention. Which is bad, because I’m married.”

“Allow me to restate in order to clarify. You are dreamy. I find you to be dreamy. As someone who finds you dreamy I feel like I have an insider’s knowledge of the hip new trends in dreaminess. Others should find you dreamy also, and if they do not it means they do not understand what it means to be dreamy. Certainly there are not many I would consider to be dreamier.”

“Oh. Well, that’s all you had to say.”