I think the problem was that there wasn't a "Best Practices" way of using them when they were launched, which really prevented describing them in a consumer-friendly way.

And web site implementors couldn't follow that golden path, or describe the golden path, so there's fragmentation in usage and meanings and practices, making it far more confusing.

I love passkeys, I want to eliminate any and all password-based logins and switch entirely to passkeys. It's such a better experience, it's a "physical" key that can be backed up to multiple devices, and thinking of it like a key for a physical lock really gets at the core of its capabilities. But locks can be used in many many ways! Maybe you need to open the lock and still tell the guard a password, which is weird, but how most websites still operate.