condescension

A rule that is off by default: it reports a word that tells the reader how hard a step should feel or what they should already know once a decisions table turns it on.

What it catches

A word that tells the reader how hard a step should feel or what they should already know.

Dimension

stance: the text reads as a verdict on a person, or as addressed to someone else. A finding is counted on the dimension of its rule, the cost it names to the reader.

Why

"Simply run" and "of course" tell a reader who is stuck that they should not be. Measured over the guides before the rule, none of 16 lowercase "just" minimized a step, so "just" counts only before a verb the reader carries out, and an "easy" that warns ("easy to get wrong") is left alone. Measured 2026-10-11 over the adjudicated labeling round: 44.7% precision (21 of 47) before, 91.3% (21 of 23) after. "Clearly" before a verb says how ("Clearly marks the flag"), so it counts only before a comma, "not" or a subject; quoted words, an "obviously" about the writer's own doing and "Of course," assenting in a reply are left alone. It stays off until 30 labeled firings show it.

Default decision

The code is PRF2006. The decision depends on the kind of text judged:

Changing it

A decisions table sets this rule to deny, advise or off, for everything judged or for the files a glob matches. Proofread reads the table from the file its -decisions flag names:

{
  "rules": {"condescension": "deny"},
  "paths": {"blog/**": {"condescension": "off"}}
}

rules applies to every file. A glob in paths applies to the files it matches, and the last match wins. A rule set to off never reports.

Seeing it

A finding names the rule, its code and the decision that applies, and links here:

{"rule": "condescension", "code": "PRF2006", "decision": "off", "url": "https://eli.gladman.cc/magus/reference/proofread/condescension/"}

proofread rules prints this entry with every other rule's.

See also

• All proofread rules - every rule, grouped by what it checks
• Writing rules - how the rules apply to this repository's pages and pull requests
• The findings contract - the fields every finding carries