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Just For Your Information...

Our colleague, Mark Joyce,  recently passed along this anonymous email . .
 

LIAR

You're called upon for an employee reference for a friend who is extremely lazy.  You don't want to lie - but you also don't want to risk losing even a lazy friend.  Try this line:  "In my opinion," you say as sincerely as you can manage, "you will be very fortunate to get this person to work for you."

This gem of double meaning is the creation of Robert Thorton, a professor of economics at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.  Thorton was frustrated about an occupational hazard for teachers, having to write letters of recommendation for people with dubious qualifications.  So, he put together an arsenal of statements that can be read two ways.  He calls this the Lexicon of Inconspicuously Ambiguous Recommendations . . . or "LIAR" for short.  "LIAR may be used to offer a negative opinion of the candidate while allowing the candidate to believe it is high praise," Thorton explained.

Some examples from LIAR:

To describe a person who is totally inept:  "I enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no qualifications whatsoever."

To describe an ex-employee who has problems getting along with fellow workers:  "I am pleased to say that this candidate is a former colleague of mine."

Better left untitled:  "I can assure you that no person would be better for the job."

To describe a person with lackluster credentials:  "All in all, I cannot say enough good things about this candidate or recommend him too highly."

 

 
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