[Ads-l] antedating "wilco"

Mon Feb 12 00:48:48 UTC 2018

Am pretty sure now that "Roger Wilco" was a name used in a Dave Berg
cartoon in Mad magazine in the early or mid sixties.

JL

On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 4:11 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> The December 1941 example from the Sunday Oregonian uses "Roger"
> differently from how I learned it in the Navy in the 1980s.  But an an Army
> Air Corps radio procedure manual from March 1941 also uses "Roger" a little
> differently from what I learned.  The same technical manual also describes
> the use of "Wilco".  The radio procedures outlined in the manual suggest
> that "Over" and "Out" were not yet in use.  "Roger" was used where I might
> have expected "Over" to be used - to signal the end of a transmission, but
> not the end of the conversation.
>
>
> United States War Department Technical Manual, Radiotelephone Procedure
> Air Corps, March 21, 1941<https://babel.hathitrust.
> org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3241799;view=1up;seq=5>, on HathiTrust.
>
>
> "Example landing instructions" on page 19 of the manual include "Wilco"
> and "Roger":
>
>
> Ship [airship]: "Chanute tower from eight five zero six, answer."
>
> Tower: "Eight five zero six from Chanute tower, go ahead."
>
> Ship: "Fifteen miles north of Tuscola at two thousand feet, contact
> landing at Chanute Field, go ahead."
>
> Tower: "Eight five zero six from Chanute tower, Roger."
>
> . . .
>
> Tower: "Nine five zero six from Chanute tower, the P-40 is now on the
> ground, you are now first to land, go ahead."
>
> Ship: "Wilco."
>
> End of citation.
>
>
> The usage of "WILCO" and "ROGER" are described in paragraphs 11., 12. and
> 13. on page 4 of the manual.
>
>
> 11. Acknowledgment of receipt. - The word "ROGER" will be utilized by a
> receiving station to acknowledge receipt of a radio-telephone message.
>
>
> [Example] Army Eight Five Zero Six . . . From . . . Scott Army Air-Ways .
> . . Roger.
>
>
> 12. Advice of compliance. - The phrase contraction "WILCO" (Will Comply)
> will be utilized to indicate that the receiving station will comply wiht
> orders or requests contained in a message received from the sending
> station.  When utilized, this phrase contraction will take the place of the
> acknowledgment "ROGER" as stated in paragraph 11."
>
>
> 13. Termination of communication. - Transmissions may be one of the
> following:
>
> a. "ANSWER" . . .
>
> b. "GO AHEAD" . . .
>
> c. "REPEAT" . . .
>
> d. "WAIT" . . .
>
> e. "ROGER," acknowledgment of receipt.
>
> f. "WILCO" (Will Comply), statement of forthcoming compliance with an
> order or request.
>
> g. "THAT IS ALL," which indicates the end of communication.
>
> END OF Citation.
>
>
> I read all of this to suggest that WILCO was relatively new at the time,
> and was used to resolve an earlier ambiguity in the use of ROGER, in which
> it could either mean - "yes I heard you," or "yes, I will do it."
>
>
> The later addition of "over" and "out" to the vocabulary seems to take the
> place of the wordier "go ahead" and "that is all."
>
>
> When I learned military communications procedures, "Roger" meant
> basically, "I read you loud and clear", "over" meant, "I'm done talking,
> you talk now", and "out" meant, "this conversation is over."
>
> In the example landing instructions from the manual, the use of "Roger"
> that seems wrong is used like I would use "over" today.  But based on the
> list of words used to end a transmissions at the time, "Roger" was the only
> neutral one available that didn't have some other meaning.  So if they were
> ending a transmission, and were not expecting a response, Roger may have
> been the only one they could use.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2018 6:00 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: antedating "wilco"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      antedating "wilco"
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
>
> 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