Tiffany LiJul 20, 2023

American recommendation letters: “This candidate is the most brilliant person alive. I will never in my entire life have a student as smart as this one again.”

European recommendation letters: “This person completed the requirements for my class. They are currently alive.”

Show threadAllan ChowJul 20, 2023
@tiffanycli lol sometimes people have asked me for recommendations and I'm like uh wait. Why?
Show threadTiffany LiJul 20, 2023
@grumpasaurus why not!
Show threadAllan ChowJul 20, 2023
@tiffanycli for some people it's been like alright I mean you weren't bad so I can say that you were reliable...
Show threadSheryl BegbyJul 20, 2023
@grumpasaurus @tiffanycli There's a whole code within PR departments to say the person was crap without saying they were crap.
Example: "She always gave her best when striving to reach the goals we set her" (but still never quite achieved those goals).
Show threadʙᴇɴ ᴄᴏᴛᴛᴇяɪʟʟ
@stealthysail @grumpasaurus @tiffanycli Sounds like the unwritten rules for writing an obituary :)
Jul 21, 2023 at 6:37amMona for iPad
Show threadSheryl BegbyJul 26, 2023
@BenCotterill @grumpasaurus @tiffanycli Quite! "Surrounded by family" is about as vague as it gets. or even "after a short illness"