word suggestion - notam

[mkenuk]

notam - 'notice to airmen'; an acronym, but like 'awol' and 'scuba' written without punctuation and pronounced as a word - it just about rhymes with 'totem'.
A notam provides information for pilots to help them with their flight plans, giving information about weather conditions, flying restrictions etc. I learned it some years ago when I was teaching an ESP course to trainee air-traffic controllers.
Rather a specialist term, so not common, but worth including in Chi's repertoire?

MK

[Alan W]

I find it a little troubling that air traffic controllers are relying on extra-sensory perception!

[mkenuk]

Indeed!
While teaching the course I sometimes used to pray for a little help from above;
 teaching the phonetic alphabet to Arab speakers was fun - for example persuading them that they had to say 'whisky' for 'W' (some of them were strict Muslims).

(for the uninitiated - and I'm sure you're not among them, Alan - ESP stands for 'English for Specific Purposes')

MK 

[Gaye Christine]

Indeed!
(for the uninitiated - and I'm sure you're not among them, Alan - ESP stands for 'English for Specific Purposes')

Oh no, Mkenuk, how prosaic, and there I was seeing you in a whole new light 

[Alan W]

Like some other acronyms, this word is often written in capitals - in fact it looks like that is the way it's most frequently written. Nevertheless several dictionaries list it in lower case letters, or give that form as an alternative. And it is sometimes written that way, as in a Guardian article from June headlined "Airlines avoid Iran drone strike area due to fears of 'miscalculation'":

The FAA’s emergency "notice to airmen" – notam – warned of a "potential for miscalculation or misidentification" in the area... According to Associated Press, the FAA notam is the second this year to suggest Iranian weapons could fire on an airliner in error, a possibility Tehran has dismissed, although in 1988, a US navy warship said it mistook an Iranian passenger plane in the Gulf for a fighter, shooting it down and killing 290 people.

Notam will be added as a rare word.

[TRex]

Like some other acronyms, this word is often written in capitals - in fact it looks like that is the way it's most frequently written.

For many years, this was the standard because of teletype (which only had capital letters). All NOTAMs were issued in all caps. The U.S. Navy used all caps in its messages from the 1850s until 2013. The National Weather Service (USA) only stopped using all caps in May 2016.

[yelnats]

A bit disappointed as I've seen it a number of times in puzzles but never tried it as I only thought of it as an acronym and always in UPPER CASE. I worked for Civil Aviation for 27 years.

for example persuading them that they had to say 'whisky' for 'W' (some of them were strict Muslims).

Spanish speakers say "whisky" when having their fotos taken. The Spanish for cheese, queso (K-so) doesn't work.