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 | This page in a nutshell: One has to deliberate and evaluate fully and then come to a considered opinion before giving one's opinions in a forum where one's opinions could be the subject of debate and conjecture which could reflect upon oneself and lead others to form an opinion as to one's opinion. |
Bradspeak, a term coined on the talkpage of User:Iridescent in 2011,[1] is the formal, deliberate, and exhaustive style in which Wikipedia functionaries communicate in public in order to cover their backs and forestall any possible criticism, or any use of their opinion to further a wikicrusade, or for any other inappropriate purpose. Bradspeak is named, somewhat unfairly, after long-time arbitrator User:Newyorkbrad.
Scope-limiting edit
Bradspeak seeks, in part, to limit the applicable scope of a particular comment or decision thereby reducing its ability to be used outside of the most immediate subject of discussion. It therefore tends to be extremely context-specific. As a result, generalizations are avoided whenever possible so that any particular generalization—and therefore any particular philosophy—can neither be vindicated nor discounted based on a single decision intended only to be applied to a single instance. This exclusion, in itself, is not of universal applicability and has to be considered within the context to which it is applied.
The above paragraph is not quite Bradspeak, but it is getting close.
Diff-friendly edit
In order to reduce out-of-context diff use in on-wiki arguments, Bradspeak tends to be highly proofread so as to avoid subsequent revisions needed to clarify otherwise-ambiguous portions of the first edit. Making the assumption that some editors might happily drop would-be intermediate revisions, Bradspeak seeks to perform one large revision to prevent the need for further revisions that would naturally in and of themselves be taken out of context.