Claemore,
Insult... Are you kidding? None taken, I'm married, you cannot insult me.
Good question about choils too.
The finger choil is kind of interesting. I've always tried to design the handle so no choil is needed but we sometimes evolve into the finger choil type design because it allows the edge to be sharpened without as much (for lack of better term) "end of thick blade base in the way". Once we have some relief of steel at the base of the blade grind then it makes sense to make sure if a finger is placed ahead of the guard that the finger will not get nicked by the edge so the choil area is lengthened a bit and before we know it, there is a kind of a finger choil.
On some hunting knives I've seen the finger choil concept taken too far and this takes away about an inch of good using edge.
The knifemaker Bob Loveless told me that choils are a waste of good blade. This is also a valid point.