Thanks to both of you for your replies thus far!

Nicolas and Finn -
Yes, implicit is an option, instead of explicit and the reason why I titled this thread with "(best practices)" :-) 
In reading through various discussions, talk pages, and some of the documentation from the past (many a bit confusing and already antiquated) ... it seems that the implicit way might not always be as accurate?  Is there a way we can begin to test that assumption to see?
Can we use my example or others you are aware of to begin to explore that assumption or disprove it somehow?

Hoping to discover what is best for the whole community going forward regarding Lexeme translations.
And would love to hear from others in the community regarding this.