Client at 11:42 pm asks for a 17-page deck by 8am, literal but idiomatic, and keep all puns. I spun up two linguists and a reviewer in Memsource, set a 2am sync, and we spent 10 minutes debating whether ‘break a leg’ in a safety manual can be both brand-appropriate and not terrifying; how do you brief teams when the brief is a paradox?
Set a one-sentence rule up front — ‘clarity beats clever’ — and make a Memsource custom tag (@reviewer sees it) for any idiom that could spook a safety context; the linguist drops a plain-language ALT right there and we deliver the pun and the safe swap with a one-line rationale. If the brand lead won’t answer at 2 a.m., the rule stands and the ALT wins by default.