In this instance maybe PPrune has become a victim of its own success. Here we have a forum where the boundaries between provider and customer are blurred.
As said many times before PPrune started as a place where pilots could talk to each other about their jobs. Due to the nature of the job, those that work in it are spread far and wide. Never are you all in the same place at the same time. So PPrune is absolutely perfectly placed to give colleagues in the industry an environment that would never happen in the 'real' world. There are very few careers where the same could be said.
The site has expanded to include those employed in other areas of aviation where the same limitations of talking amongst your colleagues apply.
Many pax who fly regularly enjoy the fact that they are more knowledgeable about flying than regular folk. (Note I don't use the term SLF, but pax which is still 3 letters and quicker to type than passenger or customer.) As such they feel an affinity to the business of flying and often have a misguided belief that they 'know' nearly as much about what goes on as those who are trained, qualified and experienced in the job. Even though they themselves are not.
In essence PPrune is like a members club where non members are welcome to enter and socialise. In the 'real' world if any of us went into a members club for a particular sport, would we as spectators even if we were life long fans, feel that we could assert our opposing views to how the game is played, with any authority? Of course our views as the spectator are vital but we are still in an environment that is not ours by right, we are guests. In the 'real' world we would see quite clearly that we were out of our depth or involved in conversations we had little technical knowledge about. Here in PPrune world the technical conversations are taking place in other areas of the clubhouse and essentially the 'guests' are huddled at the far end of the bar talking amongst themselves and the odd 'friendly' pro comes along to chat with you.
For those of you really against the term. Rather than pick on the 'in house' terminology, listen, you might learn more about the subject that you love.
SLF is not a term I've ever used or heard used outside here, but believe me we have far worse derogatory terms for each other in the industry. How would you like to be called a 'flying spanner'!!
Sorry longer than I anticipated...
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