"Peter Dohm" wrote:
"RST Engineering" wrote:
You could have really ****ed him off if you said, "No, sonny, that's
a pilot CERTIFICATE."

One of the long time Wings hosts in southern Florida frequently made a
point of that difference.

If there was a difference, it seems to be getting blurred because even the
FAA is starting to use "license" as a synonym for "certificate" as
evidenced by some of the main pages on their web site, where they are
starting to use the terms interchangeably; for example:

http://www.faa.gov/pilots/

"Licenses & Certificates

* Change Your License Information
* Get a Copy of Your License"

And:

http://www.faa.gov/pilots/become/

"What is the first step to becoming a pilot?

Decide what you want to fly. FAA’s rules for getting a pilot’s license
(certificate) differ depending on the type of aircraft you fly. You can
choose among airplanes, gyroplanes, helicopters, gliders, balloons, or
airships. If you are interested in flying ultralight vehicles, you don’t
need a pilot’s license."