IFRs
You have a valid point... I have heard marketing/advertisers/salesmen use these terms... and found them to be ultimately worthless when the cold light of absolutes engineering performance requirements are DEMANDED for aerospace, marine, industrial, etc for genuine engineering applications.
In a similar-to-track...
I've had vendors claim that a product... typically a lubricant, cleaner, finish/coating, etc... 'is tested-to', 'conforms-with', 'meets/exceeds' specification [MIL, AMS, etc] [and other similar phrases] requirements... wink... trust me. However when I stare back and ask the simple question "is Your product formally qualified-to the specification... and has it been added to the Qualified Products Listing associated with that specification??"... that's when most facades fall-away... and 'they' non-engineers [salesmen] start 'dancing-around the subject' with every excuse/explanation as to why that last formal step was never taken... or is pending... or they are working-toward-it... or maybe you could 'help them thru the process'... etc...etc.
Back to aluminum...
I remember one auto commercial claiming 'military grade' aluminum was used in vehicle application [pick-up bed?] for weight and strength. I sincerely tried to ID what alloy/temper, processing, heat treatments etc... could have been used... and really got 'sub-basic' information. As I recall there was an alloy/temper and an associated ASTM spec for the materials... and the ASTM spec had DoD acceptance... other-than-that my quest was a dead-ended. Pretty transparent/flimsy' claim... of little true value. In some cases the claims were as close-to bald-face-lies... as I have ever encountered.
Regards, Wil Taylor
o Trust - But Verify!
o We believe to be true what we prefer to be true. [Unknown]
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation,Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", Homebuiltairplanes.com forum]