I like using the convention of calling the -[char], --[keyword] etc switches or options, after all many commands have positional parameters too and it helps to keep them separate when putting together command lines. Obviously some switches have their own parameters too. I know thats probably just personal preference, but knowing that switches and parameters have a somewhat different meaning has helped me put together some working command lines with utilities that had lots of options and multiple parameters but will only offer something like "bad parameters" as a troubleshooting aid 🙂
Fair enough. "Parameter" was used throughout the previous posts in the thread, so I stuck with it. I try to provide more useful error messaging when I control that; if I don't control it, I'm at the mercy of whatever terminology the developer chose anyway.