Who’s Roger, and Why Do Pilots Talk So Much About Him?
If it isn’t true, it ought to be.
Ever wonder why aviators say “roger?” A very plausible explanation arises from aviation’s early days, when the emerging industry adopted customs, procedures, and terms from more established industries.
One such industry was the telegraph business, which of course operated in Morse code. Given the uncertain quality and reliability of such transmissions, standard procedure upon successful receipt of a message was for the receiver to transmit a single letter – “R” – to signify that “I have received and understood your last transmission.”
Voice communications being similarly subject to garbles, early aviators and their ground-bound interlocutors needed a similar protocol. As it was not possible to transmit a Morse-coded “R,” they did the next best thing by transmitting the word “roger,” which was at that time the spelling (phonetic) alphabet version of the letter “R.” Then, as now, it was simply an acknowledgement that “I have received and understood your last transmission.”
So now you know. And “R” you not grateful that aviation adopted this practice before the phonetic alphabet “R” changed from “roger” to “romeo?”