Wikipedia:Wikipedia clichés
Essay on editing Wikipedia
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. |
Due to overuse, editors are asked to avoid adding the following text strings to Wikipedia's database:
- "more heat than light"
- "a solution in search of a problem"
- "witch hunt"
- "mob" with or without "pitchforks" and/or "torches"
- "pound of flesh"
- "[other page] is that way"
- "beyond the pale"
- "net positive"/"net negative"
- "not a good look"/anything mentioning "optics"
- "if it isn't broke, don't fix it"
- "just don't like it"
- "suboptimal"
- "sound of crickets"
- "I thought they were already an administrator"
- "[problem], again" in headers
- "pile-on"/"dogpile"
- "get a thicker skin"
- "civility/tone police"
- "spend more time building an encyclopedia", said to editors who complain about being unable to build an encyclopedia
- "throw the baby out with the bathwater"
- "no need to waste editor time", said when closing a minor discussion which the closer deems frivolous