{
  "id": "apex-phrase-register",
  "title": "Apex Instruments phrase register",
  "version": "2.1",
  "effective": "2026-09-01",
  "owner": "Marketing Lead, countersigned by Operations",
  "note": "Forty phrases marketing may not publish and fifteen it is encouraged to use. Every banned entry carries the reason it was banned and what to write instead. Apex Instruments is fictional and so is this register, but the shape is the shape a real one takes.",
  "settings": {
    "longSentenceWords": 28,
    "targetAverageWords": 18
  },
  "categories": [
    { "id": "unprovable", "name": "Unprovable claims", "severity": "blocker", "note": "Superlatives nobody can produce evidence for. If a claim cannot be shown to a partner in writing, it does not get published." },
    { "id": "risk", "name": "Risk and guarantee language", "severity": "blocker", "note": "Promises that create an obligation the company has not agreed to. These are the phrases that turn a brochure into a contract." },
    { "id": "hype", "name": "Hype", "severity": "warning", "note": "Words that carry no information. They are the first thing a technical buyer discounts." },
    { "id": "vague", "name": "Vague quantities", "severity": "warning", "note": "A number that looks measured but is not. Either give the real figure or drop the claim." }
  ],
  "banned": [
    { "id": "PR-01", "phrase": "industry leading", "variants": ["industry-leading", "industry leader"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "There is no ranking that says so and no way to produce one.", "alternatives": ["widely used", "long running"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-02", "phrase": "best in class", "variants": ["best-in-class"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "The class is never defined and the comparison is never run.", "alternatives": ["documented", "independently checked"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-03", "phrase": "world class", "variants": ["world-class"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "It says nothing a buyer can check, and it dates the copy.", "alternatives": ["fully specified", "built to the published spec"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-04", "phrase": "market leader", "variants": ["market-leading", "market leading"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "A market share claim needs a source, a date, and a defined market. We have none of the three.", "alternatives": ["established", "in service since 2019"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-05", "phrase": "number one", "variants": ["#1", "no. 1"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "A rank claim with no ranking behind it is the single fastest way to lose a technical reader.", "alternatives": ["one of", "among the"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-06", "phrase": "unmatched", "variants": [], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "It asserts a comparison against every competitor at once, which nobody has run.", "alternatives": ["measured at", "specified at"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-07", "phrase": "unrivaled", "variants": ["unrivalled"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "Same problem as unmatched, and it reads as filler.", "alternatives": ["specified", "documented"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-08", "phrase": "the gold standard", "variants": ["gold standard"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "It implies a formal standard exists. If one does, name it. If not, do not imply it.", "alternatives": ["the published method", "the documented method"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-09", "phrase": "second to none", "variants": [], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "A superlative dressed as modesty. It still claims a comparison nobody ran.", "alternatives": ["fully documented", "checked on every unit"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-10", "phrase": "leading provider", "variants": ["leading supplier", "leading manufacturer"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "Leading by what measure, over what period, against whom. None of it is stated.", "alternatives": ["a provider", "one supplier"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-11", "phrase": "trusted by thousands", "variants": ["trusted by hundreds", "trusted by millions"], "category": "unprovable", "reason": "A count we cannot produce on request. Counts are fine when they are real and current.", "alternatives": ["in use at 240 partner sites", "in service at partner sites since 2019"], "replaceable": true },

    { "id": "PR-12", "phrase": "guaranteed", "variants": ["guarantee", "guarantees"], "category": "risk", "reason": "It creates an obligation the warranty does not carry. Legal removed it from every template in 2025.", "alternatives": ["designed", "built"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-13", "phrase": "no risk", "variants": [], "category": "risk", "reason": "It tells a buyer they carry no exposure, which is not a statement marketing can make.", "alternatives": ["reversible", "cancellable in writing"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-14", "phrase": "risk free", "variants": ["risk-free"], "category": "risk", "reason": "Same exposure as no risk, and it usually appears next to a payment term.", "alternatives": ["reversible", "returnable inside 30 days"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-15", "phrase": "100% accurate", "variants": ["100 percent accurate", "completely accurate", "perfectly accurate"], "category": "risk", "reason": "No instrument is. State the tolerance instead, because the tolerance is the thing a buyer needs.", "alternatives": ["accurate to the published tolerance", "accurate to 0.02 mm"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-16", "phrase": "zero downtime", "variants": ["no downtime"], "category": "risk", "reason": "An availability promise with no service level behind it.", "alternatives": ["covered by Atlas Care", "with a loan unit while yours is out"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-17", "phrase": "always available", "variants": ["available 24/7", "available around the clock"], "category": "risk", "reason": "Support hours are published and they are not these.", "alternatives": ["available during business hours", "available on the extended hours plan"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-18", "phrase": "never fails", "variants": ["never fail", "will not fail"], "category": "risk", "reason": "A reliability promise with no figure and no remedy attached.", "alternatives": ["carries a two year warranty", "is replaced under warranty if it fails"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-19", "phrase": "fail proof", "variants": ["failproof", "foolproof", "fail-safe"], "category": "risk", "reason": "It reads as a safety claim, which needs a certification we do not cite.", "alternatives": ["interlocked", "with a documented recovery step"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-20", "phrase": "fully compliant", "variants": ["100% compliant", "certified compliant"], "category": "risk", "reason": "Compliant with what, assessed by whom, valid until when. Name the scheme or drop the claim.", "alternatives": ["assessed against the published checklist", "documented in the compliance record"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-21", "phrase": "lifetime warranty", "variants": ["lifetime guarantee", "warranty for life"], "category": "risk", "reason": "The warranty is two years. Nothing in the catalogue carries a lifetime term.", "alternatives": ["a two year warranty", "warranty terms on the price sheet"], "replaceable": true },

    { "id": "PR-22", "phrase": "revolutionary", "variants": ["revolutionize", "revolutionise", "revolutionizes"], "category": "hype", "reason": "It carries no information and it invites the reader to discount the next sentence too.", "alternatives": ["new", "redesigned"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-23", "phrase": "seamless", "variants": ["seamlessly"], "category": "hype", "reason": "It is used to mean easy, and it hides the steps a buyer actually has to take.", "alternatives": ["single step", "without a rebuild"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-24", "phrase": "game changing", "variants": ["game-changing", "game changer"], "category": "hype", "reason": "A claim about the whole market made in an adjective.", "alternatives": ["different", "a change in method"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-25", "phrase": "cutting edge", "variants": ["cutting-edge", "bleeding edge"], "category": "hype", "reason": "It ages badly and it says nothing about the specification.", "alternatives": ["current generation", "released in 2026"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-26", "phrase": "state of the art", "variants": ["state-of-the-art"], "category": "hype", "reason": "Same problem as cutting edge, with an extra four words.", "alternatives": ["current", "the 2026 revision"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-27", "phrase": "next generation", "variants": ["next-generation", "next gen", "next-gen"], "category": "hype", "reason": "Every product is the next one. It only means something next to a version number.", "alternatives": ["the second revision", "the 2026 revision"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-28", "phrase": "best of breed", "variants": ["best-of-breed"], "category": "hype", "reason": "A superlative and a cliche in one phrase.", "alternatives": ["fit for the task", "specified for the task"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-29", "phrase": "turnkey", "variants": ["turn-key"], "category": "hype", "reason": "It promises that nothing is left for the buyer to do, which is almost never true of an install.", "alternatives": ["installed by us", "delivered configured"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-30", "phrase": "effortless", "variants": ["effortlessly"], "category": "hype", "reason": "The effort is real. Saying it is not makes the first hard step feel like a broken promise.", "alternatives": ["quick", "done in one visit"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-31", "phrase": "supercharge", "variants": ["supercharged", "supercharges"], "category": "hype", "reason": "Marketing language in a technical document. It reads as a substitute for a figure.", "alternatives": ["increase", "raise"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-32", "phrase": "unlock the power", "variants": ["unleash the power", "unlock the potential"], "category": "hype", "reason": "A stock phrase with no subject. Say what the reader can now do.", "alternatives": ["use", "run"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-33", "phrase": "transform your", "variants": ["transform the way"], "category": "hype", "reason": "It promises a change of kind where the product delivers a change of degree.", "alternatives": ["change your", "shorten your"], "replaceable": true },

    { "id": "PR-34", "phrase": "up to 300 percent", "pattern": "\\bup to \\d[\\d,\\.]*\\s?(?:percent|%)", "variants": [], "category": "vague", "reason": "Up to is the ceiling nobody reached. Publish the figure that was measured, not the best case.", "alternatives": ["the measured figure, for example 18 percent", "a range, for example 12 to 20 percent"], "replaceable": false },
    { "id": "PR-35", "phrase": "significantly faster", "variants": ["significantly reduce", "significantly improve", "significantly better", "significantly lower"], "category": "vague", "reason": "Significant is a statistical word being used as an intensifier. Either cite the test or cut the word.", "alternatives": ["faster", "two days faster"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-36", "phrase": "dramatically reduce", "variants": ["dramatically improve", "dramatically faster", "dramatically lower"], "category": "vague", "reason": "Drama is not a unit. The reader wants the number that made you write this.", "alternatives": ["reduce", "cut by a third"], "replaceable": true },
    { "id": "PR-37", "phrase": "countless", "variants": ["innumerable", "endless"], "category": "vague", "reason": "If it cannot be counted it cannot be claimed. If it can, count it.", "alternatives": ["the counted figure, for example 240", "the figure from the last audit"], "replaceable": false },
    { "id": "PR-38", "phrase": "a fraction of the cost", "variants": ["fraction of the price"], "category": "vague", "reason": "Which fraction, of what baseline. Without both it is a discount claim with no discount.", "alternatives": ["the price difference in dollars", "the percentage off the list price"], "replaceable": false },
    { "id": "PR-39", "phrase": "hundreds of hours", "variants": ["thousands of hours", "hundreds of dollars", "thousands of dollars"], "category": "vague", "reason": "A round number standing in for a measurement nobody took.", "alternatives": ["the measured hours per month", "the figure from the time study"], "replaceable": false },
    { "id": "PR-40", "phrase": "many customers", "variants": ["most customers", "most partners", "many partners"], "category": "vague", "reason": "Many and most are claims about a population. Either report the count or report one named case.", "alternatives": ["the number of sites, for example 12 of 40", "one site, described"], "replaceable": false }
  ],
  "approved": [
    { "phrase": "five business days", "context": "Standard turnaround, in quotes, price sheets, and order confirmations.", "note": "It is the published standard turnaround, so it can be repeated anywhere." },
    { "phrase": "two business days", "context": "Priority turnaround only, where the priority fee is stated on the same page.", "note": "Never use it without the fee, because the fee is what makes it true." },
    { "phrase": "calibrated before it ships", "context": "Meridian configuration copy and packing documents.", "note": "It is a step in the build record, so it is checkable." },
    { "phrase": "covered by Atlas Care", "context": "Service plan copy, renewal notices, support replies.", "note": "Say which plan when the cover differs between Atlas Care and Atlas Care Plus." },
    { "phrase": "priced from", "context": "Price sheets and partner quotes where a range applies.", "note": "The lowest configuration must actually exist in the price source." },
    { "phrase": "effective October 1, 2026", "context": "Every price sheet, quote, and partner table.", "note": "A price without an effective date is not a price." },
    { "phrase": "in stock", "context": "Availability copy, only when checked the same day it is published.", "note": "Carry the date it was checked. Stock statements go stale in hours." },
    { "phrase": "quoted per site", "context": "Multi site and partner network copy.", "note": "It sets the expectation that the number moves with the site count." },
    { "phrase": "returned inside the warranty period", "context": "Support and warranty copy.", "note": "It names the period rather than promising an outcome." },
    { "phrase": "checked against the price source", "context": "Partner quotes, co branded sheets, and anything a partner will republish.", "note": "It is a statement about process, which is the kind of claim that survives review." },
    { "phrase": "documented in the service record", "context": "Support, audit, and calibration copy.", "note": "It points at an artefact somebody can open." },
    { "phrase": "we will tell you the date", "context": "Scheduling copy where a date is not yet fixed.", "note": "Better than a promise that has to be walked back." },
    { "phrase": "one account manager", "context": "Partner and onboarding copy.", "note": "A concrete commitment the company can actually keep." },
    { "phrase": "the figure is from", "context": "Any sentence carrying a number.", "note": "Naming the source of a number is the cheapest credibility available." },
    { "phrase": "if it does not, we replace it", "context": "Warranty copy, in place of a guarantee.", "note": "It states the remedy instead of promising the outcome." }
  ]
}