Is "roger" equivalent to "Ok"? I hear it in war movies, movies like Star Wars Clone Wars, and in war games.
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related: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/44220/whats-the-meaning-of-the-word-roger-over-and-out – Matt E. Эллен Oct 05 '11 at 13:03
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1This can be definitively answered by looking at the wikipedia article for roger – Matt E. Эллен Oct 05 '11 at 13:06
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It's not necessarily military, it's more radio slang.
In certain radio alphabets Roger stands for the letter R, which in radio communications stands for received.
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3I didn't know this - I actually thought it meant "Ok" (and I am a native english speaker). Thanks! – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Jun 28 '11 at 21:09
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1@BlueRaja: The meaning is similar, and because of the common use of this in war movies etc. it has also been quite popular to use it in daily speach as a synonym to "OK". – awe Jun 29 '11 at 08:44
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@DJ: OED defines slang as
The special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling or professionso I think it's not particularly wrong to use. – nico Jun 29 '11 at 17:10 -
@nico: that's actually the definition of jargon, not slang. But who are we to argue with the mighty OED? :D – Marthaª Jun 29 '11 at 19:41
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@Martha: I'm not a native English speaker, so it's very likely you guys are right and I am wrong... but I've always considered slang and jargon as synonyms.... – nico Jun 29 '11 at 22:23
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4@nico: Certainly 'slang' is slang for 'jargon', but I don't think 'slang' is jargon for 'jargon'. – Peter Shor Oct 05 '11 at 12:52
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"Roger" is from WWII-era radio code for the letter "R", and was used as a more-understandable shorthand for "Received", an acknowledgement of the message. More recently, radio shorthand has moved to "copy" (an exact synonym) or "wilco" (short for "will comply" and appropriate for commands).
KeithS
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@Joe Blow — I love the parallel evolution of "roger roger" in the prequels and "kk" online. :-D – Ben Blank Jun 28 '11 at 23:13
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Don't forget "Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?" from the movie Airplane. – Joel Spolsky Jun 29 '11 at 02:36
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2@The Raven 'Note that "ROGER" and "WILCO" are mutually exclusive, since WILCO includes the acknowledgement of ROGER.' from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedure_word#WILCO – matt Jun 29 '11 at 04:20
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@matt, "mutually exclusive" generally means "one but not the other." Since "wilco" includes "roger," you might say that "'roger' is implicit in 'wilco.'" @Joel Spolsky Let's not forget "Do we have clearance, Clarance?" – rajah9 Jun 29 '11 at 14:33
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@rajah: In the U.S. military, they're mutually exclusive, because you're taught never to use them together. If you say "Roger, wilco" to a late-era soldier, they're going to think you're: a) an idiot, or b) a poseur. – Toby Jun 30 '11 at 12:58
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From Wikipedia
"Roger" means "I have received all of the last transmission" in both military and civilian aviation radio communications. This usage comes from the initial R of received: R was called Roger in the radio alphabets current at the time, such as the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. It is also often shortened in writing to "rgr". R is Romeo in the modern NATO phonetic alphabet.
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Yes, roger or roger that means message received. From Merriam-Webster:
used especially in radio and signaling to indicate that a message has been received and understood
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