marytavy (n.) A person to whom, under dire injunctions of silence, you tell a secret which you wish to be far more widely known. (From “The Meaning of Liff” by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd.)
A couple of times I have had the impression that someone was trying to use me as a marytavy. My unspoken thought was “I have no independent knowledge of whether what you have just told me is true, and the only update I am going to make is that I now believe that you have said this thing. I shall speak of the matter to no-one.”
A related concern is that you might be the recipient of information spread by a marytavy, instead of either you or the person transmitting the information to you being the marytavy. This can be tricky because receiving the information N-hand often has a different tone than it does firsthand.
This problem (receiving secrets N-hand) doesn’t even need to involve a marytavy, just 1+ unauthorized information transmitters.
Tangentially relevant:
marytavy (n.) A person to whom, under dire injunctions of silence, you tell a secret which you wish to be far more widely known. (From “The Meaning of Liff” by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd.)
A couple of times I have had the impression that someone was trying to use me as a marytavy. My unspoken thought was “I have no independent knowledge of whether what you have just told me is true, and the only update I am going to make is that I now believe that you have said this thing. I shall speak of the matter to no-one.”
A related concern is that you might be the recipient of information spread by a marytavy, instead of either you or the person transmitting the information to you being the marytavy. This can be tricky because receiving the information N-hand often has a different tone than it does firsthand.
This problem (receiving secrets N-hand) doesn’t even need to involve a marytavy, just 1+ unauthorized information transmitters.