"But one thing still puzzles me. WHY do people not want to tell D & D they're lost?"
My suggestion previously was:
"Why are the greater majority less happy to admit mistakes? Perhaps it says something about our society when in many work places admission of mistakes is seen as a weakness or is it society has just become less tolerant of small mistakes. (A speeding ticket for being 4 mph over the limit for maybe only a few hundred yards of a 30 mph zone). Perhaps our reaction to these pressures is that we resist admitting we are wrong?
I think safety has to recognise the human condition. Not a lot is to be gained by saying pilots should own up to being lost if the evidence is they are more likely to blunder on rather than admit their mistake. (and I use the word "if" carefully because I have no evidence to support my contention). "
"Yes, the meaning of lost can vary"
That was exactly my point which you have illustrated so well. One pilot's definition of lost in a given situation may be different from anothers. Someone else suggested "lost" means you cant point to precisely where you are on the map. I am not sure most of us would agree with that?