[gnosis]

"a 'tail call' and 'tail call elimination' are 2 completely different things."

Indeed. For those seeking more detailed information about this issue, see:

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ProperTailRecursion

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TailCallOptimization

http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/classic/message1532.html