plain-words

name	plain-words
description	Write GoFastr-facing copy in plain, concrete words. Auto-load before writing or editing ANY user-facing sentence — taglines, README prose, site/UI text, headlines, docs, changelogs, marketing. Kills jargon, marketing adjectives, abstract nouns, and AI-slop phrasing. Triggers on writing/editing copy, tagline, hero, headline, lede, positioning, README prose, landing page, UI microcopy.

Plain words

You keep reaching for jargon and marketing words. Stop. This is the filter you run every sentence through before it ships.

The one test

Before you write or keep a user-facing sentence, ask:

Would a working Go developer say this out loud to a coworker?

If it sounds like a landing page, a keynote, or a pitch deck — delete it and write what the thing actually does. If you can't say it at a desk with a straight face, it's wrong.

Banned — never use these words or phrases

first-class, first-party, bolt-on, add-on, seamless(ly), powerful, robust, blazing(ly), lightning-fast, unlock, leverage, empower, enable (as filler), elevate, delight, craft(ed), journey, world-class, battle-tested, enterprise-grade, cutting-edge, next-gen, revolutionary, game-changer, supercharge, effortless, "out of the box" (as praise), "under the hood", "at the table", "wired for", "runs through", "baked in", introspect, surface (as a noun meaning API/tools/pages), projection, authoritative, paradigm, ecosystem, holistic, turnkey, native (as buzzword), rich (as praise), "just works", "so you can focus on what matters", "the way X should be", "not a bolt-on / not an afterthought".

If one shows up, delete the sentence and start over with the concrete thing.

Rules

1. Name the real thing. "an agent can call posts_list" — not "agents get a tool surface".
2. Plain verbs: get, write, read, run, call, add, change, delete. Not: leverage, enable, empower, provide, deliver.
3. Show it. A command, a file path, a route, a flag beats any adjective. Prefer a two-line code block over a sentence praising the code.
4. One idea per sentence. Cut every word that isn't load-bearing. Long, comma-spliced sentences are where jargon hides.
5. No praise adjectives. Facts don't need selling. Delete "powerful", "simple", "elegant", "clean".
6. No metaphors. Say the literal thing. ("on-ramp", "batteries", "at the table" — cut.)
7. Every claim must be checkable. If you can't point to a file, route, or behavior, don't write it.

After you write

Re-read once. Strike every banned word. Replace every abstraction with the concrete thing it stands for. If the sentence still reads like copywriting, it is — say it the boring way instead. Boring and true beats clever and vague, every time.