"Mark Williamson" node.ue@gmail.com wrote in message news:849f98ed0506130501469f774f@mail.gmail.com... [snip]
An example might be, speaking in front of a crowd, saying "Almost all of you did a terrific job. However, there are some people here in whom I am disappointed. You know who you are" is better than saying "Everybody did well except John Doe, Jane Smith, and Tom Buck, in all of whom I am extremely disappointed".
A couple of points. Firstly, the above smacks of a boss-worker relationship, which AFAIK does not hold within Wikipedia, except maybe with Jimbo :-)
Second, this is only actually worthwhile if you have already spoken to those with whom you are disappointed, so that they know (so that arrogant b*st*rd John Doe can't sit there smugly and think "well, he's not talking about me") and also if you make it quite clear that you are *not* disappointed with anyone with whom you have not already spoken (so that shy, timid Alice Mouseling doesn't sit there quaking in her chair thinking "he must mean me").
Whether or not you've spoken to the arrogant b*st*rds to whom your words are really directed, there are many shy timid types who will think you mean them and will take great hurt from your perceived criticism.