Being a cosmopolite is something else. A cosmopolite
"nowhere a stranger, at home in every place; a citizen of the world"is dealing with different nationalities, dialects, situations, but only one or two or five at a time.
Not only will there be
misunderstandings. (That's the least
part of it.) Exclusivity also has to
be sacrificed for watered-down,
neutral
generality. Dialect,
slang, idiosyncrasy, in-jokes, all
this has to go. Of, course, I'd much
rather
be misunderstood than to sacrifice
all
that.
Subtract the
above-mentioned factors and you are
cerebrally, verbally homeless.
Allusion (the "insider"
aspect of
communication) is a kind of
home. The homeboys live in their
language.
Rich, well-fed people with a neutral
language, on the other hand, can live
in a
linguistically barren ghetto.
Perhaps you disagree. Perhaps you are one of those planet-encompassing, Web-footed, global village-y people. I'm not. I am just a cosmopolite.
(So why am I here, if I am so critical to what goes on here? Why, indeed?)