#+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.