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If an employee or employer says in a retirement speech:

He is a unique character in our company, I guess we all agree on that.

  • What do they mean?
  • Is it a compliment or not?
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  • I'm guessing that its meaning is close to "he's one of a kind" (i.e. unique). This is usually said of people in a kindly way on such occasions (but maybe with a touch if humour). Are you a little eccentric?
    – Mick
    Commented Oct 6, 2016 at 12:23

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If the speaker is a weary colleague or an exasperated employer, the expression "a unique character" could be interpreted as a backhanded compliment. Wikipedia says:

A backhanded compliment, also known as a left-handed compliment or asteism, is an insult that is disguised as a compliment. Sometimes, a backhanded compliment may be inadvertent. However, the term usually connotes an intent to belittle or condescend.

For example, if someone tells you: ‘You have very unique features. Who do you take after?’, they might be implying you are not good-looking in the conventional sense.

On the one hand, a "unique" person usually suggests that they are rather special, one of a kind, an extraordinary and remarkable person. But on the other hand, it can be used as an euphemism, and might hint at a person's odd personality, or imply his or her behaviour is weird and perhaps annoying.

Only the people listening in the audience will know for certain whether the speaker is sincere or not.

unique
1. Being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
‘the situation was unique in British politics’
‘original and unique designs’

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  • In the context of a retirement speech, I think "unique" probably infers some oddities, but probably quirks that are more likeable than unlikeable. As you say, though, there is no way to tell for sure – certainly not with a one-sentence extract.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Oct 6, 2016 at 20:58
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"You all agree he must be unique characters in our company."

If you mean to say something like, "you all agree he is a unique character," then this is a deliberately ambiguous comment about another person. The speaker implies that he is special in some way, but refrains from explicitly saying whether in a good or a bad way.

As in other languages, if someone makes an ambiguous comment you must infer what they actually mean from intonation, context, body language, and other factors, or you ask them to clarify.

Otherwise, "he is unique characters," is not grammatically correct since "he" is singular, and "characters" is plural.

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    My answer still applies. Saying someone is "unique" is neither positive nor negative by itself. Context and other factors may tell you what the speaker means.
    – Andrew
    Commented Oct 6, 2016 at 12:38

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