27 JUNE 1992, Page 24

Credentials

THE EVENTIDE home for jokes which serves the Financial Times for a diary col- umn found room, this week, for a true vet- eran. This is the one about the job applica- tion — 'she asked me to show my testimo- nials and that's where I made my first mis- take.' My earliest boss liked to tell this joke, but always said 'credentials', which made it harder to follow. Previous inhabitants of the FT's rest-home include a joke by Saki (killed in action, 1916) and one by King Philip of Macedon (assassinated, 336 B.C.) I offer my usual bottle of Bollinger for the oldest joke spotted in the FT this year and a magnum to any jokemonger who can show that he planted it.