Written as a Socratic dialogue between a lecturer and a student, this text presents, in a non-technical style, some elements for an operational description of reality. Following a brief introductory discussion about the main characterizing ingredients of a scientific approach to reality, the reader is introduced to a number of important, but unexpectedly puzzling, concepts, which are at the roots of our scientific language. More specifically, using a number of simple examples, the dialogue explores the meaning of concepts such as: experimental test, property, attribute, actuality and potentiality, entity, state, certainty, identity, evolution, classical and quantum probabilities, energy, space and non-locality, separation, existence, possibility, personal reality and personal experience, creation and discovery, time, change and permanence, structure and complexity, distinction and connection, and many others as well.