Replies to requests for character reference are notorious for their evasive double-entendre. It would be hard to find anything more equivocal than: ``I cannot recommend him too highly.''

Another less ambiguous case read as follows: ``The bearer of this letter has served me for two years to his complete satisfaction. If you are thinking of giving him a berth, be sure to make it a wide one.''

In the comedy of indefinite reference, it wit occupies a prominent place because of its frequent occurrence. Ambiguity arises when the pronoun it carries a twofold reference.

Two friends were talking. One said, ``When I get a cold I buy a bottle of whiskey for it, and within a few hours it's gone.'' The speaker referred to the whiskey but his friend thought he meant the cold.

It wit is a misnomer because it covers slips as well as wit. An excited woman was making an emergency call over the phone: ``Doctor, please come over right away. My husband is in great pain.