Between the lines | 10 May 2018

In Competition No. 3047 you were invited to supply an imaginary testimonial for a high-profile figure that is superficially positive but contains hidden warnings to a potential employer.
 
This was an exercise in the artful deployment of ambiguity, as displayed in Robert J. Thornton’s L.I.A.R. The Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations, a handbook for those who, whether out of kindness or fear of litigation, wish the precise meaning of their ‘recommendations’ to remain opaque. One-liners suggested by Professor Thornton include ‘In my opinion you will be very fortunate to get this person to work for you’, to describe a slacker, and ‘I most enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no qualifications whatsoever’ as shorthand for ‘rank ineptitude’. (One competitor confided that only after years of reading testimonials did he realise that ‘generally’ actually meant ‘not particularly’.)
 
A special mention goes to David Silverman, who endorses Vladimir Putin’s ‘uniquely positive, assertive leadership style that no one who has worked for him would question’.