RollOnFriday is having a competition for the most ridiculous question put to an applicant in person or on an application form.

Apparently, Withers (a London law firm – bizarre website warning) asked the following question on a form:

bq. To which fictional character do you most relate, and why?

Someone on RollOnFriday’s discussion board suggested ‘the fatty who gets done from behind in Deliverance’.

Actually, it’s a tricky question. Presumably the novel you refer to may not be too highbrow nor too lowbrow. I remember applying for articles at a firm in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and being asked at the interview (at least Withers gives you time to think) what I’d read recently, and I mentioned ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’. I thought it was socially appropriate, but the interviewer had never heard of it.

While browsing the RollOnFriday discussion board, I discovered what ‘getting a desmond’ means. At first I thought: but Desmond Tutu went to my college, and surely he didn’t do that badly? I mean, I assume he did some work. And I thought ‘getting a Vorderman’ was the term for a third. But then I discovered from the Urban Dictionary it is a kind of rhyming slang:

First – Geoff (Geoff Hurst, footballer)
2:1 – Billy (Billy Gunn, wrestler)
2:2 – Desmond (Desmond Tutu, bishop)
Third – Thora (Thora Hird, actress)

To quote the discussion board:

bq. I know someone with a desmond and a tenancy

bq. He probably has other things going for him. Plus he’ll be at an absolutely cack set of chambers and will end up earning less per hour than a McWorker

Of course in Germany you may need the equivalent of an LL.D. (Dr. iur.).

LATER NOTE: Actually, you can find the Withers application form online at their recruitment site.