[Ads-l] antedating "wilco"

[Jonathan Lighter]

There seems to be no indication that the writer meant that he was the one
saying "Roger."

But it may well have been an editorial error of that sort.

JL

On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 10:32 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> Possibly a mistranscription? Maybe the pilot said ROGER, not the tower.
>
> You are right that ROGER was the wrong word for the tower to use there.
>
> DanG
>
> On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 9:00 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > OED: 1946
> >
> > 1941 _Sunday Oregonian_ (Portland) (Dec. 7) 90 [ReadEx]:
> > The Tower answers, "Tower to four-seven-two. Land in the east. Wheels
> down
> > and locked. Go ahead." I say, "Four-seven-two, wilco."
> >
> > Earlier, "Tower to four-seven-two. You may take off, Roger."
> >
> > The writer is an air cadet at Randolph Field, but this use of "Roger"
> (no,
> > not his name) seems wrong or archaic (i.e., new to me).
> >
> > It should be "Out." Or perhaps "Over." Shouldn't it?
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org