diff --git a/src/grimoire/services/shape_ledger.py b/src/grimoire/services/shape_ledger.py
index db17e4f8..7bdb78be 100644
--- a/src/grimoire/services/shape_ledger.py
+++ b/src/grimoire/services/shape_ledger.py
@@ -1798,7 +1798,7 @@ def _semantic_priority(row) -> tuple:
 # were examined under, so a tightened rule re-examines everything once. A
 # change that does not alter what is proposed needs no bump. A stale "miss"
 # basis on an old row is inert: a miss is not evidence (see _SEMANTIC_LIMIT).
-_PROPOSER_VERSION = 7
+_PROPOSER_VERSION = 8
 # Signature resemblance floor, name blanked (difflib ratio) — and a length
 # floor, because `def NAME():` resembles `def NAME(x):` at 0.95 while saying
 # nothing; a family shape has parameters to resemble.
@@ -1939,7 +1939,9 @@ def names_canon(
       unless the canon is recorded in this very file;
     - never a generic verb, with or without a leading underscore;
     - a bare lowercase word (`file`, `seen`, `seal`) only where it is called
-      as `word(`, because as a plain word it is everyone's variable.
+      as `word(`, because as a plain word it is everyone's variable. No space
+      is allowed before the parenthesis: formatted code never has one, and
+      prose does ("a file (not a directory)").
     Same kind and language family are checked by the callers' loops."""
     sym = _norm_symbol(canon.symbol or "")
     if not sym:
@@ -1954,7 +1956,7 @@ def names_canon(
         if not any(lp and _path_touches(lp, path) for lp, _ls in canon.locations):
             return False
     if kind == "sym" and re.fullmatch(r"[a-z]+", sym):
-        return re.search(rf"(?<![\w$]){re.escape(sym)}\s*\(", body or "") is not None
+        return re.search(rf"(?<![\w$]){re.escape(sym)}\(", body or "") is not None
     return references_symbol(body, sym, kind)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_shape_ledger.py b/tests/test_shape_ledger.py
index 31e2c0cb..aa8f5b94 100644
--- a/tests/test_shape_ledger.py
+++ b/tests/test_shape_ledger.py
@@ -601,7 +601,9 @@ def test_a_plain_word_counts_only_where_it_is_called():
     from grimoire.services.shape_ledger import Canon, _norm_text, reference_canons
     seen = Canon(8, "sym", "seen", (("src/tree.py", "seen"),), "def seen(f):", _norm_text("x"), 2, "python")
     assert reference_canons("sym", "src/a.py", "walk", "if path in seen:\n    return", [seen]) == []
-    assert reference_canons("sym", "src/a.py", "walk", "if seen (f):\n    return", [seen]) == [8]
+    assert reference_canons("sym", "src/a.py", "walk", "if seen(f):\n    return", [seen]) == [8]
+    # Prose puts a space before the parenthesis; a call does not.
+    assert reference_canons("sym", "src/a.py", "walk", "// a seen (or unseen) path\nreturn p", [seen]) == []
     # A leading underscore does not get a generic verb past the stoplist.
     run = Canon(9, "sym", "_run", (("src/x.py", "_run"),), "def _run(cmd):", _norm_text("x"), 2, "python")
     assert reference_canons("sym", "src/a.py", "go", "_run(['ls'])", [run]) == []