# Dictionary

This dictionary records repository-wide language decisions for repository prose.
It applies to comments, user-facing descriptions, commit prose, pull-request prose, and Markdown documentation.

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English partly informs these rules.
This repository uses those ideas as a local style discipline.
It does not claim formal ASD-STE100 compliance.

Use `USE` for approved terms.
Use `AVOID` for terms that do not belong in repository prose.
Use `REPLACE` for terms that have a preferred substitute.

| Term | Decision | Replacement | Meaning |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `i.e.` | REPLACE | `that is` | Latin abbreviation. Unclear to non-native speakers. |
| `e.g.` | REPLACE | `for example` | Latin abbreviation. |
| `etc.` | REPLACE | `and so forth`, `and others` | Latin abbreviation. Vague and non-exhaustive. |
| `vs.` / `versus` | REPLACE | `compared to`, `against` | Latin abbreviation. |
| `via` | REPLACE | `by using`, `through`, `with` | Latin term. Prefer direct prepositions. |
| `ad hoc` | REPLACE | `one-off`, `for this case` | Latin term. Prefer direct wording. |
| `simply` | AVOID |  | Subjective filler. Code and concepts are not inherently simple. |
| `just` | AVOID |  | Minimizing filler word. |
| `obviously` | AVOID |  | Subjective qualifier. |
| `clearly` | AVOID |  | Subjective qualifier. |
| `easily` | AVOID |  | Subjective qualifier. |
| `properly` | REPLACE | `correctly`, or specify exact behavior | Vague and subjective. State the exact condition. |
| `as necessary` | REPLACE | specify exact condition | Ambiguous. Define the condition explicitly. |
| `very` / `quite` | AVOID |  | Empty intensifiers. |
| `basically` | AVOID |  | Conversational filler. |
| `actually` | AVOID |  | Conversational filler. |
| `really` | AVOID |  | Empty intensifier. |
| `furthermore` / `moreover` | REPLACE | `also`, `and` | Overly formal transitional filler. |
| repository root | USE |  | The Git work tree root. Use it to resolve repository-relative paths. |
| agent | USE |  | An AI coding assistant acting in the operator's environment. |
| operator | USE |  | The human driving the development process. Use when distinguishing the human from the agent acting on their behalf. |
| guest | USE |  | A systemd-nspawn container managed by the NixOS configuration. |
| host | USE |  | A machine with a NixOS configuration built by this repository's flake. |
| module | USE |  | A self-contained NixOS configuration under `configs/nixos/modules/`. |
| registry | USE |  | A typed configuration namespace whose entries can be collected across hosts and reused by other configuration. |
| Conventional Commits | USE |  | A commit-message format defined in `docs/conventional-commits.md`. |
| forge | USE |  | A web service that hosts Git repositories, pull requests, issues, and code review comments. Use when the exact provider does not matter. |
| flake | USE |  | A Nix project with pinned inputs and declared outputs. Use for the repository-level build unit defined by `flake.nix`. |
| NixOS module | USE |  | A Nix file evaluated by `nixosSystem` for a NixOS configuration. |
| overlay | USE |  | A function that modifies a Nix package set by adding or replacing packages. |
| workspace | USE |  | A named or numbered group of windows in a graphical session. Some desktop environments call this a virtual desktop. |