Dan Luke writes:

********. One has two syllables, the other only one.

There's a lot more to human speech than syllables. Only a single
phoneme separates the two in many pronunciations (particularly because
restricted bandwidth can limit the intelligibility of fricative
consonants), and that phoneme sounds very much like an unstressed
central hesitation vowel, which means it may not be heard at all.
This is especially true for non-rhotic speakers.

You haven't spent much time communicating via aircraft radios, have you?

How much time have you spent studying phonetics and linguistics? They
are just as relevant here as experience with aircraft radios.

However, I don't think a wealth or dearth of experience in any domain
need be a prerequisite to discussion. And I think it more productive
to discuss the topic at hand than to direct personal attacks at anyone
with whom one disagrees.

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