Agreed that it's more than just an optimisation if it's documented behaviour in the language, because then code is allowed to depend on its existence (which is not something you're allowed to do for a mere optimisation).
There's a name that's both more accurate than TCO and more diplomatic than PITCH, which is TCE (tail call elision). That's certainly the name commonly used in the Python community when discussing (and rejecting!) it.
There's a name that's both more accurate than TCO and more diplomatic than PITCH, which is TCE (tail call elision). That's certainly the name commonly used in the Python community when discussing (and rejecting!) it.