sloptells / hedge-adverb pileup

active · lexical · first recorded 2026-07-02 · registers: cooking, parenting

“usually”, “mostly”, “typically”, “generally”, “slightly” — each is normal English; the density is the tell. Models qualify nearly every claim with one. Any single match means nothing; several per paragraph reads as AI.

Density tell — scored very low per match by design.

model specificity: cross-model; rising across generations

◑ appears in good human writing too (collateral score 0.32 — the closer to 1, the more it also fires on acclaimed pre-AI prose)

examples

…is usually the main factor… mostly a texture issue… typically fine at room temperature…

evidence

occurrences per 10k words, measured 2026-08-17 (run #10, 3 current + 3 vintage models)

current AIvintage AI (2024/25)humans (matched)canon (great pre-AI prose)
pooled24.5713.1210.487.96
hn17.628.05
cooking49.9620.53
parenting18.637.54
linkedin3.55

history

rundateAI /10kvs humans
#22026-07-0223.91×1.9 vs humans
#32026-07-0225.70×1.8 vs humans
#42026-07-0624.09×1.8 vs humans
#52026-07-1323.20×1.7 vs humans
#62026-07-2023.79×2.0 vs humans
#72026-07-2727.21×1.9 vs humans
#82026-08-0328.06×2.4 vs humans
#92026-08-1027.86×2.2 vs humans
#102026-08-1724.57×2.3 vs humans

detector

regex: \b(usually|mostly|typically|generally|slightly)\b

sources

← all tells