Have you ever wondered where the line “Roger that” that we see in most American movies comes from? We will take you to the old days, to the days of communication with morse code and we will get to know the meaning of this word.
Police or soldiers talking on the radio when we watch an action movie featuring a detective or military operation “Roger that” they use the phrase. Have you ever thought about this line? If you know even a little bit of English, you can see that this word doesn’t really do what it’s intended for. In fact, the word roger that, which is used to tell the other party that the incoming message was delivered without any problems, became so popular with Hollywood movies that people began to wonder about the past of this word.
Today we will explain to you where the line “Roger that”, which is indispensable in Hollywood movies, came from. Actually in English “message recieved”; ie “message received” Let’s get to know the etymological origin of the pattern roger that, which is used as a synonym for its meaning.
We’re going back to the pre-radio era, when communication was done with Morse code.
Before the radios came out, communication was more provided in Morse code. In the period when 2 people are communicating over the wires, after the main message is sent, to verify whether the message reaches the other party or not. Instead of the word “received” the letter “r” would be encoded. Although “received” seems like a small word, when you want to send it with morse code, it increases the workload of the operators. For this reason, operators using only the letter “r” were performing the verification process much faster.
So where did “Roger that” come from?
Communicating, especially in the military, is also racing against speed. For this reason, many words or phrases were coded and communication was established with a single letter. As for the word Roger, we need to look at the phonetic alphabet. Today, the phonetic alphabet of English is different. For example, the letter “R” is Romeo in the phonetic alphabet. However, in World War II the phonetic alphabet was different, and the letter “R” was Roger. This resulted in a word that has become stereotyped from the days when morse code was used. We can better summarize communication in Morse code days by giving examples:
Komutan: Mesaj gönderildi mi? (Has the message been sent?)
Mors operatörü: Evet, gönderildi efendim. (Yes, sent sir.)
Komutan: Peki karşı taraf Roger'ladı mı? (Did they roger that?) * Komutan burada karşı tarafın mesajı aldığına dair "r" harfini kodlayıp kodlamadığını soruyor.
Mors operatörü: Evet, doğruladı efendim. (Yes, confirmed sir.)
The line “Roger that” that we see in action movies comes from such a history. When people leave the Morse code and go back to the radios, people are already doing this. they kept saying “roger that” instead of “recieved” because he was used to the pattern.
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