Wikipedia: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.

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This page in a nutshell: It's okay to call a spade a spade – to speak plainly – but remember to remain civil, and to stay focused on improving the encyclopedia.

To call a spade a spade is to describe something clearly and directly. Rather than using oblique and obfuscating language, just "tell it like it is".

While editors who consistently engage in disruptive editing are disruptive editors, and editors who consistently vandalize are vandals, it is still required that editors be civil to one another. However, being civil should not be confused with being friendly or courteous, let alone charitable or credulous. A key concept: treating someone in a "not bad" way does not always equate to treating them in a "good" way. You are required to not treat other editors horribly, but you are not required to act with unrequited kindness as if you were Mister Rogers or Bob Ross or Keanu Reeves.

You don't have to be like Fred, Bob, or Keanu. Wikipedia's aim is not to be virtuous, (nor malicious) it is meant to be neutral. You should try to be too.

Rather than citing their edits in good faith, some users may point to our policies against personal attacks and incivility in order to protect their edits from scrutiny. It's OK to let others know when you think they're acting inappropriately, but a bit of politeness and tact while doing so will get them to listen more readily. One can be honest and direct about another editor's behaviour or edits without resorting to name-calling or attacks. Discuss troubling edits, in reasonable terms, on that article's discussion page. If the behaviour of a user remains troublesome, use the dispute resolution process. When referring to a particular bad edit, it is always best to include a diff.

Calling a spade a spade can apply to article content. For example, POV pushers often like to create obfuscated prose which disguises the majority view. To give an example:

Flat earth is a scientifically disproven conception of the Earth's shape as a plane or disk.

to this

Flat earth is a traditional cosmological model which has been criticized by some for what they see as "misinformation".

When it is clear that the majority view among reliable sources is that Flat Earth is not a real thing, the article should state it in wikivoice.

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