In ATMB threads about trolls and trollery, shouldn’t we be allowed to call a troll a troll?
A troll is a troll.
And a roll is a roll.
And if we don’t catch no trolls,
Then we don’t eat no rolls.
I made that up.
What would it accomplish?
For what purpose? To insult them?
It’s better in general to discuss the behavior rather than the person. So discussion of whether a particular post or pattern behavior constitutes trolling, in a thread about trolling, would be better.
Yeah, Colibri, I just like going around insulting people.
So I can’t say, “You’re a fucking troll!”
But I can say, "You were trolling here and here and here?
If it’s not for the purpose of insulting people, then I have to ask again exactly why you wish to call them trolls.
In ATMB? Absolutely not.
In my opinion, yes.
Unless the thread is about trolling, that just seems like it would derail the thread. If someone sees someone that they think they can demonstrate is a troll, to me that seems like something that should be sent to the mods not opened as a can of worms right in the middle of an unrelated conversation.
Again, why the presumption that insult is my goal? You trying to start a knife fight?
Because, in threads like “What is a troll?”, “How was I trolling?”, or “Am I a troll?”, being able to point to specific examples (and to give honest answers) promotes frank discussion.
Ok, then. Being able to point out examples of a poster’s trollery–and naming it as such–is, IMO, sufficient for frank discussion.
Why are you acting insulted just because I asked you what your intent was? You specifically asked whether it was OK to “call a troll a troll,” and the example you offered when I asked for clarification was “You’re a fucking troll!”, a pretty clear insult. Neither of these are necessary to “promote frank discussion.” You didn’t initially ask if it was OK to point to instances of trolling.
I asked, “In ATMB threads about trolls and trollery, shouldn’t we be allowed to call a troll a troll?”
My question looks clear enough to me. I just don’t like tapdancing around verbiage to stay in compliance.
FWIW, I brought up the “You’re a fucking troll!” comment as an example as something I knew to be against the rules. I contrasted it with the second example. If we can point to a thread or a post and come right out and say that it’s trollery, that’s good enough for me.
It wasn’t clear exactly what you were asking. And I think you overreacted by presuming that I was presuming that you personally were wanting to insult people. 
If you think I read something else into your question than you intended, by the same token you read more into my reply than I intended.
Well damn. Now, who am I going to insult?
