info · Section 1: Words
Rule 1.9: Use short and easy to understand technical nouns
When no technical noun is approved in your company, industry, or subject field, select one that is short (not more than three words) and easy to understand, relying on illustrations or index numbers for extra specificity rather than a long descriptive noun phrase.
What a checker looks for
Guidance rather than a pass-or-fail test.
- Flag long, multi-adjective descriptive noun phrases (four or more words describing one part) where a short standard term — especially one already anchored by an index/reference number — would work just as well.
- Flag unnecessarily elaborate phrasing where a short, plain technical noun conveys the same information.
How to fix it
Shorten the noun phrase to its essential term (2-3 words), removing descriptive material that duplicates what an accompanying index number or illustration already provides.
Constraints on the fix
- Do not remove index/reference numbers or the parts they identify.
- Only shorten if the essential identifying information is preserved.
Examples
Not STE: Disconnect the braided stainless steel flexible hydraulic supply hose (30) from the anodized aluminium manifold body (35).
STE: Disconnect the hydraulic supply hose (30) from the manifold (35).
Related rules
Where this fits in AI governance
A rule a checker can test is a rule a model can be held to. The same discipline, on the governance side of this site.
- Hallucination
An approved word used in an unapproved sense is the controlled-language version of a plausible wrong answer. - Misinformation and confabulation
The register entry for text that reads correctly and is not. - Output validation guardrails
A controlled language is a checkable output constraint. This is the control that treats model output as something to be checked rather than trusted.
Source
ASD-STE100 Issue 9, Section 1 - Words, page 1-1-12.
This page is commentary and does not reproduce the standard. About this rule pack.