When you use it right, brevity is clarity. I'm all for descriptive names, but the elaborate wording in those method names is like writing "utilize" when you could have said "use".

Utilize, upward, starting at, finished writing

vs.

Use, up, from, wrote

So:

  def shift_records_upward_starting_at(position)

could be:

  def shift_records_up_from(position)

and:

  def someone_else_just_finished_writing?(document)

could be:

  def other_user_just_wrote?(document)

I don't think the shorter versions are any less clear.