Wikipedia : you ca n't squeeze blood from a turnip - Wikipedia Wikipedia : you ca n't squeeze blood from a turnip This page is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not one of Wikipedia policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms ; others only represent minority viewpoints. Shortcut WP : TURNIP A turnip can not be coaxed, squeezed, or cajoled into producing blood. All efforts at obtaining blood from this vegetable will be futile. You ca n't squeeze blood from a turnip. -- Matt ( Casey ) Jones If a standard remedy exists for an editor who has done something wrong and the editor shows no sign of regretting the mistake, then go ahead and apply the standard remedy. Extreme gestures of good faith need not be extended toward an experienced editor who consistently violates fundamental policies and rebuffs appropriate overtures. Some troublesome users do not want to change and the community 's energies are limited. See also Wikipedia : Keep it down to earth Wikipedia : Disruptive editing Wikipedia : Call a spade a spade Wikipedia : AGF is not a suicide pact Wikipedia : Sanctions Essays about Wikipedia Essays on building, editing, and deleting content Philosophy Articles must be written Avoid vague introductions Be a reliable source Cohesion Concede lost arguments Eight simple rules for editing our encyclopedia Do n't lie Explanationism External criticism of Wikipedia Here to build an encyclopedia Most ideas are bad Need Neutrality of sources Not editing because of Wikipedia restriction Oversimplification Paradoxes Paraphrasing POV and OR from editors, sources, and fields Product, process, policy Purpose There is no seniority Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia Tendentious editing The role of policies in collaborative anarchy The rules are principles Trifecta Wikipedia in brief Wikipedia is an encyclopedia Wikipedia is a community Construction 100K featured articles Acronym Overkill Advanced source searching Adding images improves the encyclopedia Advanced article editing Advanced table formatting Advanced template coding Advanced text formatting Alternatives to the `` Expand '' template Amnesia test A navbox on every page An unfinished house is a real problem Articles have a half - life Autosizing images Avoid mission statements Bare URLs Be neutral in form Beef up that first revision Blind men and an elephant Cherrypicking Children 's lit, adult new readers, & large - print books Citation overkill Citation underkill Concept cloud Creating controversial content Criticisms of society may be consistent with NPOV and reliability Dictionaries as sources Do n't demolish the house while it 's still being built Do n't hope the house will build itself Do n't panic Editing on mobile devices Editors are not mindreaders Endorsements ( commercial ) Featured articles may have problems Fruit of the poisonous tree Give an article a chance Ignore STRONGNAT for date formats Inaccuracy Introduction to structurism Law sources Link rot Mine a source Merge Test Minors and persons judged incompetent `` Murder of '' articles Not every story / event / disaster needs a biography Not everything needs a navbox Nothing is in stone Organizing disambiguation pages by subject area Permastub Potential, not just current state Printability Pruning article revisions Publicists Put a little effort into it Restoring part of a reverted edit Robotic editing Sham consensus Run an edit - a-thon Temporary versions of articles There is a deadline There is no deadline The deadline is now Walled garden What an article should not include Wikipedia is a work in progress Wikipedia is not being written in an organized fashion The world will not end tomorrow Write the article first Writing better articles Deletion Adjectives in your recommendations AfD is not a war zone Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions Arguments to avoid in deletion reviews Arguments to avoid in image deletion discussions Arguments to make in deletion discussions Avoid repeated arguments Before commenting in a deletion discussion But there must be sources ! Confusing arguments mean nothing Content removal Counting and sorting are not original research Delete the junk Does deletion help ? Do n't overuse shortcuts to policy and guidelines to win your argument Follow the leader How to save an article proposed for deletion I just do n't like it Immunity Liar Liar Pants on Fire Nothing Overzealous deletion Relisting can be abusive Relist bias The Heymann Standard Unopposed AFD discussion Wikipedia is not Whack - A-Mole Why was the page I created deleted ? What to do if your article gets tagged for speedy deletion When in doubt, hide it in the woodwork No Encyclopedic Use Essays on civility The basics How to be civil Compromise Accepting other users Enjoy yourself Expect no thanks Thank you Apologizing Truce Divisiveness Encouraging newcomers Relationships with academic editors High - functioning autism and Asperger 's editors Obsessive Compulsive Disorder editors Philosophy A weak personal attack is still wrong Advice for hotheads An uncivil environment is a poor environment Be the glue Civility warnings Deletion as revenge Failure Forgive and forget It 's not the end of the world Nobody cares Most people who disagree with you on content are not vandals Old Fashioned Wikipedian Values Staying cool when the editing gets hot The grey zone The last word There is no Divine Right Of Editors Most ideas are bad Nothing is clear The rules of polite discourse There is no common sense Wikipedia is not about winning Writing for the opponent Dos Argue better Assume good faith Assume the assumption of good faith Assume no clue Avoid personal remarks Avoid the word `` vandal '' Beyond civility Call a spade a spade Candor Drop the stick and back slowly away from the horse carcass Deny recognition Encourage full discussions Get over it How to lose Just drop it Keep it down to earth Mind your own business Don'ts Do n't give a fuck Do n't be inconsiderate Do n't be rude Do n't call a spade a spade Do n't call the kettle black Do n't take the bait Do not insult the vandals Do n't come down like a ton of bricks Do n't be ashamed Do n't drink the consensus Kool - Aid Do n't spite your face Do n't call things cruft No angry mastodons No, you ca n't have a pony Do n't be an ostrich Do n't template the regulars Do n't be a fanatic Do n't accuse someone of a personal attack for accusing of a personal attack Do n't fight fire with fire Do n't be prejudiced Do n't remind others of past misdeeds Do n't throw your toys out of the pram Do n't help too much Passive aggression Do n't cry COI Do n't be obnoxious Do n't be a WikiBigot Do n't confuse stub status with non-notability Do n't eat the troll 's food You ca n't squeeze blood from a turnip Wiki relations WikiLove WikiHate WikiCrime WikiBullying WikiPeace WikiLawyering WikiHarassment POV Railroading Essays on notability Notability Alternative outlets Articles with a single source Bare notability Bombardment Businesses with a single location But it 's true ! Citation overkill Clones Coatrack articles Common sourcing mistakes Discriminate vs indiscriminate information Every snowflake is unique Existence ≠ Notability Fart Google searches and numbers High Schools Inclusion is not an indicator of notability Inherent notability Insignificant Masking the lack of notability Make stubs News coverage does not decrease notability No amount of editing can overcome a lack of notability No big loss No one cares about your garage band No one really cares Notability / Historical / Arguments Notability can not be purchased Notability is not a level playing field Notability is not a matter of opinion Notability is not relevance or reliability Notability means impact Notability points Notability sub-pages Obscurity ≠ Lack of notability Offline sources One hundred words One sentence does not an article make Other stuff exists Pokémon test Read the source Run - of - the - mill Significant coverage not required Solutions are mixtures and nothing else Subjective importance What notability is not What is and is not routine coverage What to include Wikipedia is not here to tell the world about your noble cause General notability guideline Independent sources Significant coverage Trivial mentions Humorous essays Humorous material Assume bad faith Assume faith Assume good wraith Assume stupidity Assume that everyone 's assuming good faith, assuming that you are assuming good faith Avoid using preview button Avoid using wikilinks BOLD, revert, revert, revert Boston Tea Party Barnstaritis Do n't - give - a-fuckism Edits Per Day Editsummarisis Go ahead, vandalize How to put up a straight pole by pushing it at an angle Lamest edit wars Newcomers are delicious, so go ahead and bite them No climbing the Reichstag dressed as Spider - Man Please be a giant dick, so we can ban you Please bite the newbies R-e-s-p-e-c-t How many Wikipedians does it take to change a lightbulb ? The first rule of Wikipedia The Five Pillars of Untruth Things that should not be surprising The WikiBible Watchlistitis Why not create an Account ? Inactive historical references Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Unblock Emails About essays About essays Essay guide Value of essays Difference between policies, guidelines and essays Do n't cite essays as if they were policy Avoid writing redundant essays Finding an essay Quote your own essay Policies and guidelines About policies and guidelines Policies Guidelines How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance Policy writing is hard Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:You_can%27t_squeeze_blood_from_a_turnip&oldid=793643174 '' Categories : Wikipedia essays Talk Project page Talk About Wikipedia Bahasa Indonesia 日本 語 Português 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 3 August 2017, at 02 : 08. About Wikipedia

Question: where did the phrase you can get blood out of a turnip come from
Answer: Matt (Casey) Jones