When a model follows the surface wording of an instruction so closely that it misses the intent, or treats an incidental feature of the phrasing as a rule.

Reached for in support replies to relocate a shortfall into the customer's typing, because a fault described as a property of your wording is a fault you were supposed to prevent.

• Blame Relocation: A failure in the product, restated as a defect in how the user asked.
• No Correct Form Published: You are told the phrasing caused it, and never told what phrasing would not have.
• House-Cleaning Reality Check: Like being told the dishwasher left everything dirty because of how you stacked it, with nobody willing to say how it should have been stacked.

Seinfeld (Season 7) where the soup counter runs on ordering rules that are never posted, customers are refused for phrasing the request wrong, and the queue forms again the next day regardless.

When a model follows the literal wording of an instruction and misses what was meant.

“Output variance in that session is consistent with instruction overfitting on user-supplied prompt structure.”

“Support said our prompt was worded badly, and never told us what wording would have worked.”