Nine verbs banned as soft metaphors against abstract subjects. Any hit fails the anti-AI voice gate at sev 3. Wired 2026-07-07.
| Soft verb | What it fakes | Plain-verb swap |
|---|---|---|
| lands | arrival, impact, closure | arrives, hits, comes home, breaks open, opens, closes, reaches the listener |
| sits | steady presence, dwelling | stays, stands, remains, lives, presses, weighs, holds (on note X), falls between |
| names | identification, articulation | says, speaks, tells, describes, states, identifies, sees, faces, confronts |
| reaches for | intent, effort | grabs, picks, takes, wants, tries, uses, moves to, goes for, borrows |
| leans on | dependence, favor | relies on, uses, repeats, returns to, depends on (name the concrete part) |
| hangs on | pivot, contingency | depends on, waits for, holds, pivots on, turns on (name the actual pivot) |
| orbits | circulation, centering | circles, returns to, centers on, revolves around (name the harmonic pivot) |
| rests on | anchoring, foundation | sits on (literal only), holds on, stays on, pedals on, remains on |
| rides | tracking, layering above | plays over, sits on, stays over, tracks, follows (name the actual anchor) |
The chorus lands on the downbeat with a shimmer. The verse sits in the middle of the mix. The bridge reaches for the relative minor. The rhythm guitar leans on the tonic. The whole thesis hangs on that one line. The melody orbits the flat six. The arrangement rests on the sub-bass pedal. The vocal rides the harmony a fourth above. The chapter names the wound.
The chorus arrives on the downbeat. The verse stays low in the mix. The bridge moves to the relative minor. The rhythm guitar plays the tonic under everything. The whole thesis depends on that one line. The melody circles the flat six. The arrangement pedals on the sub-bass. The vocal tracks a fourth above the harmony. The chapter says what the wound is.
Ran anti_ai_voice_gate.py check against a seeded paragraph with one sentence per verb. Exit code 1.
File: softverb_test.txt
Patterns with hits: 11
Total hits: 19
Severity-weighted score: 56 (threshold: 10)
Severity-3 hits: 18 (any sev-3 = fail)
hits sev category note
9 3 hard_gate soft-metaphor-verb-9 (lands/sits/names/reaches for/
leans on/hangs on/orbits/rests/rides) applied
to abstract subject — replace with a plain verb
1 3 hard_gate 'reaches for X' — grabs, picks, takes, wants
1 3 hard_gate 'leans on X' — relies on, uses, repeats
1 3 hard_gate 'hangs on X' — depends on, waits for, holds
1 3 hard_gate 'orbits X' — circles, returns to, centers on
1 3 hard_gate 'rests on X' — sits on (literal), depends on
1 3 hard_gate 'rides X' — plays over, sits on, stays over
1 3 hard_gate 'names' escalated to sev 3 — reword every use
1 3 hard_gate 'lands' escalated to sev 3 — reword every use
1 2 hard_gate 'sits' as metaphor verb
1 3 hard_gate instrument-refusal grammar (co-occurring tell)
GATE: FAIL
~/.claude/skills/_shared/anti_ai_tells.json (86 rules, 9 new)~/.claude/skills/_shared/anti_ai_voice_gate.py check FILE — exit 1 on any sev-3 hit~/.claude/skills/_shared/anti_ai_tells.json.bak-softmetaphor9-20260707