User:Antelan/Call a spade a spade
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: It's okay to call a spade a spade, to speak plainly, but be sure to use discretion and politeness when you do. |
| "What do you expect of me? I've always been one to call a spade a spade." "Fine," said Yevgenia. "But don't imagine that's always a virtue." |
Users too often cite policies, like our policy against personal attacks and our policy against incivility, not to protect themselves from personal attacks, but rather to protect their edits from review.
Users who consistently engage in disruptive editing are disruptive editors. Users who consistently push a POV are POV pushers. Users who consistently vandalize are vandals. There is no need to dress up the way we address such users. However, although calling a spade a spade is part of a reliable editor's job, editors should be civil when they do so.
.jpg)
The Jack Kennedy test[edit]
This negative version of this line of thinking is sometimes referred to as "Jack Kennedy test" after the Lloyd Bentsen quote: "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy".