iserith
Magic Wordsmith
I don't require players to speak using a narrowly prescribed phraseology.
Do you imagine that I do? "Don't ask to make an ability check because that's not your role and not even a very good strategy" leaves open an entire world of possibilities to describe one's approach to a goal. How is that narrow by any reasonable definition? How are those "code words," to use another word you brought up earlier?
If someone says "I want to do an investigation check" I know what they're doing is looking closely and trying to get a better understanding.
You assume what they are doing. And you may be right. But perhaps not always. And if you're establishing what the character is doing, you're stepping outside of the DM's role in the game. (Whether or not you care if you do is a separate matter.)
I don't understand why you're so stuck on a couple of sentences in the DMG. People have different ways of expressing what they want their character to do.
I'm not "stuck" on anything. I've read the rules for D&D 5e. I play by the rules as I understand them. If I'm playing D&D 4e, I play by those rules which includes player asking to make ability checks. And this is more than "a couple of sentences in the DMG." It's in the Basic Rules and the DMG in multiple sections specifically and then other rules are based on those underlying assumptions.