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I just saw this suggested edit:

enter image description here

Now, I'm in a bit of a catch-22 situation: I don't want to approve the edit because the resulting post is still terrible, doesn't answer the question at all, is completely unsalvageable as an answer and should be deleted.

On the other hand it removes the bad language. On smaller sites it can sometimes take a long time for posts like this to be removed and I'd rather not have that language sitting around for long (The post was removed by a ♦ mod while writing this question, but it was there for almost 10 hours before being deleted).

If at all possible I would try to improve the post, but there is no chance of a good answer coming out of that (and I had already previously flagged the answer).

What should I do in the case of a suggested edit like this?

As a user with edit priviledges should I edit out bad language on a post that is otherwise unsalvageable?

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Posts as bad as this one should be flagged (even as rude/abusive), not edited, so I would have rejected the edit. Because of the red flag, ♦ moderators will take quick action and remove the post. Editing out the bad language will only make it less clear for them, and I have in at least one instance seen rude flags being declined because a ♦ moderator only looked at the current state of the post.

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  • Of course that is what I do/did (I had already flagged), my only hesitation is that action isn't always quick and it can be sitting there for half a day before anything is done about it and since a post that bad is guaranteed to be deleted even without the bad language I can't see any downside to editing it out...
    – Cai
    Nov 23, 2016 at 11:24
  • You can report rude/abusive posts in some chatrooms, e.g. Charcoal HQ.
    – Glorfindel Mod
    Nov 23, 2016 at 11:25
  • Of course, most people don't know that though :)
    – Cai
    Nov 23, 2016 at 11:31

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