That's because the whole internet idea of "a theory is a well-tested hypothesis" is silly and wrong. A hypothesis is a specific supposition or question about the way things work which if true has some level of explanatory power in a field of study. It can be confirmed or unconfirmed. It's still a hypothesis. An answered question is still a question.
A theory is a explanatory framework for a body of knowledge. Unlike a hypothesis, it's not inherently a question or a guess. That doesn't mean it's "true." It also can be unconfirmed (as you say, string theory) or even demonstrably false (phlogiston theory, Ptolemaic theory) and still be a theory.
Obviously there's considerable overlap between the two concepts and as you say they are sometimes used almost interchangeably. Colloquially, "I'm testing my hypothesis that orally ingesting booze provides protection against infection, which if confirmed will be a key part of a theory of booze immunology" gets collapsed into "I'm testing my theory of booze immunology." Big deal. It really only matters because people let themselves get bent out of shape about the whole "evolution is just a theory" thing.
And since I'm ranting already, evolution isn't "just a theory" because evolution itself isn't a "theory," evolution is the natural phenomenon that is being theorized about.
Right. I'll only add that it's not really an "internet idea". It's a highly idealized, cartoon version of science that has been part of my education since long before I was on the internet.
A theory is a explanatory framework for a body of knowledge. Unlike a hypothesis, it's not inherently a question or a guess. That doesn't mean it's "true." It also can be unconfirmed (as you say, string theory) or even demonstrably false (phlogiston theory, Ptolemaic theory) and still be a theory.
Obviously there's considerable overlap between the two concepts and as you say they are sometimes used almost interchangeably. Colloquially, "I'm testing my hypothesis that orally ingesting booze provides protection against infection, which if confirmed will be a key part of a theory of booze immunology" gets collapsed into "I'm testing my theory of booze immunology." Big deal. It really only matters because people let themselves get bent out of shape about the whole "evolution is just a theory" thing.
And since I'm ranting already, evolution isn't "just a theory" because evolution itself isn't a "theory," evolution is the natural phenomenon that is being theorized about.