a : abrupt in speech or manner
b : being straight to the point : direct
So yeah, that's exactly what blunt means.
Don't be confused by all the people who think bluntness is automatically rude. It's not. Those people just have really tender feelings and can't handle the truth. They need to have it sugar coated.
Those people just have really tender feelings and can't handle the truth.
This is perhaps unnecessarily blunt :-)
I agree that bluntness is not automatically rude. Indeed, to me, the whole purpose of using the word "blunt" in this way is to draw an important distinction between outright rudeness and behavior that risks being insensitive but does so for a constructive purpose.
Nonetheless, I think some confusion about the meaning of the word is understandable.
“Blunt” has different connotations for me, rudeness seems like a part of it. Saying “I don’t need to see this, let’s move on.” seems just honest to me, not blunt. “I’m bored by this, why do you tell me all this crap?” would be something I would be willing to call blunt.
But yeah, being honest (or blunt, if you will) is something I’m perfectly alright with. I want the people I’m working with or for to be like that. I’m not so crazy about rudeness, but if that quote is accurate Jobs wasn’t rude (at least in those situations).
So yeah, that's exactly what blunt means.
Don't be confused by all the people who think bluntness is automatically rude. It's not. Those people just have really tender feelings and can't handle the truth. They need to have it sugar coated.