Drones, UAVs, RPAs, etc...

Using jargon in the workplace is one thing, but using jargon in social circles is a social faux pas that professionals should not commit.  So why is it that the U.S. Air Force thinks society is going to start using technical jargon when it comes to drones?

Stephen Whisler "Blue Drones in the Morning" (2013)
Click here for more of Whisler's work

Regardless of which social circles you prefer, it's hard to make it through a week without hearing about the future being defined by unmanned aerial systems, remotely piloted aircraft, or the more dreaded word: drones.  Everyone both inside and outside of the military are talking about drones and their potential.  In fact, just last week a conference was held in New York City just off NYU's campus called the Drone & Aerial Robotics Conference. This particular conference hosted a wide array of professionals from many fields to discuss the future laws and policies of aerial robots.  The conference itself was a hit and goes to show how frequently we as society are going to hear about drones in our futures.

So anyways, what do we call them?  Aerial robots, remotely piloted aircraft, or flying toasters?  My vote is to call them what the largest amount of people seem to know them as: drones.

One of the arguments posed by the the Air Force in respect to the coining of "remotely piloted aircraft" is that the aircraft is by definition not a drone.

I'm not a linguist, however, it's generally understood that language is a constantly evolving form of communication.  Words are constantly added to the dictionary just as their meanings are perpetually shifting.  Today the word drone means something different than it might have meant in the past; nowadays, the word drone is defined as a remotely piloted aircraft or an unmanned aerial vehicle.  How much sense would it make to describe a noun by its long drawn out definition as opposed to calling it by what it is most commonly known as.  Even if it is for the sake of brevity alone, drones should be called drones.

Calling drones by anything other than drones hasn't caught on yet, and I don't think it's going to.  Give it up, Air Force.

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W&P