Most disagreements in this field are disagreements of translation. One chart event is described in three traditions, and each has its own names. The table below exists so that an unfamiliar term reveals a familiar object.
One caveat: matching names do not mean matching definitions. Zone boundaries and event criteria differ between traditions, so the table answers "what is this about", not "is it exactly the same".
The main correspondences
| Event on the chart | Wyckoff | General SMC | ICT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierce of the range's lower edge with a return | spring | sweep of sell-side liquidity | judas swing, turtle soup |
| Pierce of the upper edge with a return | upthrust, UT / UTAD | sweep of buy-side liquidity | judas swing (mirrored) |
| Range boundaries | creek, ice | equal highs and lows | old high, old low |
| Re-test of a boundary | secondary test | level retest | — |
| Strong exit from the range | sign of strength | impulsive break, MSS | displacement |
| Pullback to the broken boundary | backing up to the edge of the creek | retest of a broken level, breaker | breaker block |
| Last pullback before the move | last point of support | zone before the impulse, order block | order block, mitigation block |
| Untraded stretch inside an impulse | — | imbalance, gap | fair value gap |
| Hypothetical large participant | composite man | smart money | smart money, "the algorithm" |
| Upper and lower halves of the range | — | premium and discount | premium, discount |
Where no correspondence exists
These are the places where the traditions differ in substance rather than wording — and no translation can be substituted.
Selling and buying climax. Defined through a surge in volume. The SMC vocabulary has no equivalent: without volume there is nothing to tell a climax from an ordinary sharp move.
Automatic rally. Wyckoff singles it out as a phase of its own; in SMC it is simply movement inside a range.
Effort versus result. Comparing volume with distance covered. Nothing to replace it with — it is a law about volume.
Cause and effect. The link between a range's duration and the scale of the move that follows. In SMC zones do not become "stronger" because the range was long.
Phases A–E. Wyckoff's five-phase markup is more detailed than the three-phase modern scheme: he separates the stopping of a trend, the building of cause and the test, while the retelling merges them.
Attachment to time of day. The reverse case: only ICT has it. Neither Wyckoff nor the general SMC vocabulary contains the notion of a "special hour".
How to use this
When you meet an unfamiliar term, ask one question: which event on the chart does it describe. If there is an answer, the term translates and there is nothing to argue about. If there is no answer, only a story about participants' intentions, then there is nothing to translate: the other tradition simply does not make that claim.
The reverse check is useful too. If a concept in one tradition rests on volume and you work where volume does not exist, there will be no translation — and that is a lack of data, not a gap in the glossary.
A common mistake
Treating three names as three independent confirmations. If spring, a sweep of sell-side liquidity and a judas swing all point at one pierce, that is one observation named three times, not three arguments.