SEMANTIC ENIGMAS



Where does the expression "Roger that" come from ? It is also used in maritime communications to acknowledge communications. Alan Doory, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil "Roger" was "phonetic" for "R" (received and understood". In radio communication, a "spelling alphabet" (often mistakenly called a "phonetic alphabet) is used to avoid confusion between similarly sounding letters. In the previously used US spelling alphabet, R was Roger, which in radio voice procedure means "Received". While in the current spelling alphabet (NATO), R is now Romeo, Roger has remained the response meaning "received" in radio voice procedure. In the US military, it is common to reply to another's assertion with "Roger that", meaning: "I agree". Major David Null, Auxiliary USAF, Claremont, CA USA In the RAF, the expression "Roger Willco" ("received, will cooperate") was used to acknowledge a request or order; It might still be, for all I know. I once had an idea for a television comedy series that followed the exploits of a roguish NCO called Sergeant Willco but was upstaged by Phil Silvers. Pete Wigens, Stroud, Glos UK I was told during my Navy training that ROGER stands for Received Order Given, Expect Results. Andy McBride, Littlehampton UK My name Rafael Gonzales...I sevred in Vietnam January 1970 to January 1971...I became a radioman on are about March of 1970... Being hispanic my vocabulary was very limited...I had trouble pronouncing many words... One day while on an operation, we were crossing a booby trap infested area...each taking their turn to cross an open area.., I was with Alpha Company 1st platooon (don't quite remember)...as I was making my crossing...a previous call came in...asking me if I receive the last message... I stead of saying "Affirmative" meaning "Yes"...to save my life I could not pronounce "Affirmative"...and so I came up with "Roger That"...like I said I could not pronounce the affirmative... There is more to this...if interested in more details...please feel free to contact me...this happen on or about April 1970...thank you. Sincerely, Rafael Gonzales Charlie Two Charlie Squad Leader...Nam 70-71 Rafael Gonzales, Houston, Texas U.S.A. Roger or Roger That does NOT mean "agreement". It just means the entire message was received. Wilco, as in WILL COMPLY was the old term for will comply. Wikipedia "roger that" or try websites that deals with radio or military terminology. Barbara, Tampa USA in response to Rafael Gonzales: "I was with Alpha Company 1st platooon (don't quite remember)" really dude? you don't remember your company and platoon ? you couldn't say affirmative but you can say Roger? the "G" is the letter hispano-american People have more trouble with... i call bravo sierra on your roger and your service, señor Douglas, Boston USA ROGER THAT, Douglas, Boston USA. "Roger that" and "Roger wilco" were first used in WW II. Marine4ever, USA I too will call bravo sierra on the alleged Hispanic Vietnam vet. No way you forget a detail like that. He is a fake. My Dad was using roger that in the navy during WWII in the Pacific. He even remembered every port of call. Kit Dr. Kit Barrington, South Burlington, VT USA When I was in the army cadets as a youth, many years ago...I was told that Roger actually came from Stonehaven Mr Tait, Aberdeen, UK I agree with douglas, boston and marine4ever. One does not forget things like that. I was an air force officer during the 1960s stationed on okinawa, in and out of 'nam' tdy. anyway, I digress. I had two serial numbers, one as an enlisted type prior to being commissioned and a 2nd as an officer. after nearly 50 years I still remember both. one does not tend to forget these things or one's unit of assignment. they're bludgeoned into your brain! ex-capt brandriff, 374 fMS (naha air base) now of hamden ct Welles Brandriff, Hamden, ct USA My name is Roger Thatney and I am 91 years old. I was serving as a testing pilot at the beginning of WW2 for the US Navy and since our plane equipped radio systems were not very advanced the signal was often getting lost and only parts of the conversations were heard, so whenever my name was called other pilots only heard "Roger..", or "..That..", so we were often joking about the signal quality and eventually instead of saying "I understand" they started jokingly saying "Roger That" and everyone knew exactly what they meant. Later the phrase caught up with the radio signal engineers who were working at making our planes getting better reception as well as creating plane radar systems and the phrase was later used to name aircraft radio equipment developing projects - on May 3rd, 1941 project "Roger" was created at the Naval Aircraft Factory to install and test their, then "new", "airborne radar equipment". The equipment proved to be very useful in the next few months so the phrase "Roger That" spread across all of the Navy and later other US Army units... The rest was history... Roger Thatney, Chicago, IL USA Hmmm, very interesting stories here. Now I understand why all pilot and captain names were "ROGER" in old USA movies in the Turkish translation. I think many years ago interpretation was not successful in Turkey. Umit Golgeci, Finike, Antalya, Turkey All the stories are very interesting. We use "Roger That" when corresponding on our business radios. All of them apply to us. The response from Roger surely has a lot more credibility. Also, Thank You Roger and all you veterans for making it possible for me to live a cherished life in the USA. David Dodge, Alton, NH USA Well fellow Vets...I am sorry to know that you find me to be a fake...and I can understand as to why...but all I wanted to do was to let someone know how this Roger That expression got started...and for not knowing what unit I was in, I was in Country for a very short time when I became a Radioman and I really do not remember if it was the First Platoon or the Second Platoon for Alpha Company...and you Sir(s), would have been very proud of the many things I did for my Country...around May of 1970 or there a-bouts I was transferred to Charlie Company Second Platoon...days later I became a Squad Leader (Third Squad)...I was wounded twice and among other things that I do not feel comfortable to write about... I hope and wish you Men the best...I do not want to cause you to anger...if you do not believe me, then let's wait for the moment when we stand before our Maker and have him reveal the truth to all things...May God Speed... Sincerely, Rafael Gonzales Rafael Gonzales, Houston U.S.A. Don't mind them, they apparently still have a lot to prove. I have been with over a dozen units detached and deployed all over, and just had to pull up records to fill out my last clearance investigation. Sgt. Kill Foot, Monticello, US Back in the day, "Roger That" either meant "Yep",.. or more typically "Hell Yeah"! Blinko, Indianapolis USA BAHAHAH I find it hilarious that there are two different stories of people claiming to have been a part of the origin of the phrase JUST on this blog. That's cute. Kalin, Louisville US Roger all that! J. Imtiaz, New Delhi, India Roger Rabbit Gomer Pyle, Mayberry, US



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