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+#+TITLE: New voice pattern proposed by Craig (2026-07-23, from the wo
+#+SOURCE: from work
+#+DATE: 2026-07-23 23:26:24 -0500
+
+New voice pattern proposed by Craig (2026-07-23, from the work project): term-translation density.
+
+THE RULE Craig stated: if a reader has to stop and mentally translate more than one specialized term in a single sentence, the sentence should be rewritten.
+
+Proposed pattern text for SKILL.md (place, number, and mode-tag per your taxonomy — see notes below):
+
+  Term-translation density. A sentence that forces the reader to stop and
+  translate more than one specialized term (acronym, coined phrase, product
+  name) is too dense. One such term is fine; two or more in one sentence means
+  rewrite it: split the sentence, gloss one term inline in a parenthetical, or
+  drop to plain language. The test is the reader's parse, not the writer's
+  familiarity. It is audience-relative: terms the whole audience shares (SAR to
+  a defense team) carry no translation load, but terms only the writer holds (a
+  coined 'detect-then-contextualize', or ViT and VLM stacked in one clause) do.
+
+Worked before/after for the profile entry (this is the live case that prompted it):
+  Before: A ViT detector gating a VLM for enrichment is close to our own
+          detect-then-contextualize direction.
+  After:  Their setup is a fast detector that hands off to a heavier model for a
+          closer read. That mirrors our own two-stage approach (find it first,
+          then work out what it is).
+
+Placement notes for your call:
+- Mode: I'd put it in GENERAL (applies in all three modes), because it's a
+  universal clarity rule in the Orwell / Plain English family, not a Craig-voice
+  quirk. It reads to anyone editing any prose.
+- Related but distinct from existing patterns: #7 (AI-vocab words) is about
+  which words; #30 (jargon-fragment) is about fragments. This one is about
+  jargon DENSITY per sentence and the reader's translation load. Worth a
+  cross-reference, not a merge.
+- Pairing rule: it needs the one-line Rule in SKILL.md AND a profile entry
+  (problem, basis, before/after, detection). The before/after above is ready.
+- The skill just went to 47 patterns (recipient-priority ordering added to
+  prose). This would be the next number in whatever scheme you're using.
+
+No rush. It came up drafting a customer-partner email tonight where one sentence
+stacked three terms and Craig flagged it. Applying it by hand worked; he wants it
+in the regular pass so it's caught automatically.