Holy "chit"
#31
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I'vwe gotten a drink chits when flying premium class on flights outside of the US. They are good for the day of flight only. If I can't use them on the day, I make sure that someone else does.
Amazing amount of knowledge on FT. Amazing!
Amazing amount of knowledge on FT. Amazing!
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Laguna Niguel, CA
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the thread has been interesting to read, and confirms what I suspected when I started the thread...that most people use the term "chit" without having the slightest clue of what the word means. Myself included.
Now if we could step out of the 1970's and stop calling electronic segment upgrades "stickers". Or maybe not.
Now if we could step out of the 1970's and stop calling electronic segment upgrades "stickers". Or maybe not.
#34
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Originally Posted by kalia960
... 4. retroflex-th (aspirated retroflex t--breathe out as you say 't'). Some write it as "thh". Not really known in English but some people use this sound in pronouncing "Thai".
Now "chi(thh)(thh)i" contains a double retroflex aspirated t. Are you still sure you want to know this?
Now "chi(thh)(thh)i" contains a double retroflex aspirated t. Are you still sure you want to know this?
It's no wonder the English shortened the word to Chit!
Seems simple enough to say "chi(thh)", but to add another "(thh)" to get "chi(thh)(thh)" just doesn't happen easily to one not practiced in the sound.
#35
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: OKC/DFW
Programs: AA EXP/2 MM
Posts: 9,999
I'm not sure why we need to quit calling them stickers. But I also don't know why you're attributing them to the 1970s. I wasn't an elite with AA until 1995 and stickers were still alive and well and being peeled and placed on boarding passes then (and for the next several years).
#36
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Location: Laguna Niguel, CA
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I'm not sure why we need to quit calling them stickers. But I also don't know why you're attributing them to the 1970s. I wasn't an elite with AA until 1995 and stickers were still alive and well and being peeled and placed on boarding passes then (and for the next several years).
#37
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: OKC/DFW
Programs: AA EXP/2 MM
Posts: 9,999
My point is... so what? Why change just to change? You haven't convinced me there's an inherent problem with using an outdated term. "Album" is also an old-fashioned term but that doesn't stop recording artisits from going gold, platinum, and multi-platinum.
IMO "stickers" is much easier and more convenient than
"500-mile-electronic-upgrades". The latter just doesn't roll off the tongue like the former. If there were a new and improved term then I'd be all for it, but so far I haven't heard anything better suited than "stickers". As always YMMV.
IMO "stickers" is much easier and more convenient than
"500-mile-electronic-upgrades". The latter just doesn't roll off the tongue like the former. If there were a new and improved term then I'd be all for it, but so far I haven't heard anything better suited than "stickers". As always YMMV.
#38
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Posts: 8,937
We still dial a phone, don't we?
In computers, many systems still use the term core to refer to memory, even though core means a specific type of (hand-made) memory from the 1960s and 1970s. (I worked for a vendor that went to some trouble to update their terminology in the early 1990s, replacing many outdated terms, including core, but few others bothered.)
Seriously, I'm all for using more updated terms, as it is less confusing for new people. But old habits die hard, as they say.
In computers, many systems still use the term core to refer to memory, even though core means a specific type of (hand-made) memory from the 1960s and 1970s. (I worked for a vendor that went to some trouble to update their terminology in the early 1990s, replacing many outdated terms, including core, but few others bothered.)
Seriously, I'm all for using more updated terms, as it is less confusing for new people. But old habits die hard, as they say.
#39
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Location: Laguna Niguel, CA
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Please...just don't make me refer to my "secretary" as a "Negro". It turns out that she prefers the updated terms.
#40
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Monterey, CA
Programs: AA Lifetime GLD, SPG Gold, UCLA Alum ('96)
Posts: 540
IMO "stickers" is much easier and more convenient than "500-mile-electronic-upgrades". The latter just doesn't roll off the tongue like the former. If there were a new and improved term then I'd be all for it, but so far I haven't heard anything better suited than "stickers". As always YMMV.
Oh, and I can attest to the overwhelming use of "chit" in the military. As a former flight surgeon, I used to issue "down-chits" (to ground a pilot) and "up-chits" (returning them to flight status) all the time.
#41
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: OKC/DFW
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Nor am I convinced that "500-mile-electronic-upgrade coupon" is somehow self-explanatory and that the phrase doesn't have to be defined at some point for folks who weren't flying when stickers were really stickers.
#42
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Cheers.
#44
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
We call them stickers because it displays our long experience and esoteric knowledge. Those who have joined our select group more recently use it as a way to appear to have that same experience and knowledge. In other words, we do it to show off. We say it to AA employees and new FT users just to see if they will say "Whaa?"
And for the same reason we occasionally start a thread about "old miles". (I am actually guilty of that---starting such a thread, if not really for that reason. OK, really for that reason.)
And for the same reason we occasionally start a thread about "old miles". (I am actually guilty of that---starting such a thread, if not really for that reason. OK, really for that reason.)