Episode 316: Roger That

Quick Quips: This week Shauna and Dan tune into that radio phrase, Roger That. Bonus:  Jolly Roger; Victor, Clarence, and Roger; and (in Dan's best droid voice) Roger Roger 

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 Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast 
Quick Quips
Episode 316: Roger That
Record Date: April 20, 2026 
Air Date: April 22, 2026

Intro

Dan:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase. 

I’m Dan Pugh

Shauna:
And I’m Shauna Harrison

Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today. 

Welcome to another Quick Quips episode where we look at phrases that, for whatever reason, don’t fit into our regular format.

Today, we’re tuning in to the phrase: Roger that. 

Meaning
According to Oxford English Dictionary, roger means, 

Quote
To acknowledge (a radio message, instruction, etc.) as received (and understood). Also in extended use: to agree with, to assent to.
End quote
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/roger_v2?tab=meaning_and_use&show-all-quotations=true#179889433 

How it Started (Could be figurative or literal)

Back in the long ago, morse code was a standard in sending messages quickly. However, it still wasn’t as fast as desired, so a lot of shorthand was developed. To indicate that a message was successful, one would respond with “Received” and this was quickly adapted to the single letter R.

Move forward a little to the 1940s and people had use of two-way radio. The single letter R was extended to a longer term, just not the same one. Roger represented the letter R in the spelling alphabet that was used by the British RAF and the American military. This was a different alphabet from the one many know today which goes, “Alpha, Bravo, Charlie” and so on. 

Since 1956, the phonetic alphabet has used Romeo for the letter R.
https://jakubmarian.com/origin-of-the-phrase-roger-that-in-english/ 

1949
A humorous example of “roger” being used in aviation communication appears in March 10, 1949 edition of The Lexington Advertiser, out of Mississippi. Here is the excerpt,

Quote
Lt. Ormond C. Fowler, USN, I learned that the Air Force does not consider “wheels” to be an automobile. He taxied into his hard-stand, or parking ramp, at Rhein-Main one morning after a flight to Berlin, called the tower, and requested that a “set of wheels” be sent out to the plane. The tower “rogered.” When Fowler cut the engines of his R5D, he saw, not the crew pickup he had expected, but a set of nose and main gear wheels… “Wheels” to the Air Force are wheels!
End Quote
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84024271/1949-03-10/ed-1/?sp=9&q=rogered&r=-0.032,0.054,0.794,0.45,0 


How it Shifted (or How it Became Figurative)

1962
The phrase was also used in spaceflight communication. This  example comes from the 1962 book titled Into orbit, by the seven astronauts of Project Mercury, with the US version titled, We Seven, By the Astronauts Themselves. 

In one excerpt, astronaut John Glenn is quoted as he describes receiving information during his mission.

Quote
Both of these readings were within limits and I rogered the message.
End Quote
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/roger_v2?tab=meaning_and_use&show-all-quotations=true#179889433
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/We-Seven/Scott-M-Carpenter/9781439181034  

The Apollo missions, part of Project Apollo, took place from 1961 to 1972, with the first crewed flight launching in 1968 and the Moon landing in 1969.

During these missions, communications between astronauts and mission control were broadcast live, and major moments were followed by audiences around the world.

Listeners regularly heard astronauts and flight controllers using standard radio language… especially the word “roger” - message received and understood. Over time, repeated exposure helped make it one of the most recognizable terms from space communication. And naturally, it became “a thing.”
https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/ 

Many believe the widespread broadcasts from programs like Apollo helped make “roger” and “roger that” more familiar to the public, reinforcing their use as a simple and recognizable form of acknowledgment beyond strictly military and aviation contexts. 

Next up we’ll look at just how the phrase is used today, but first, a quick thank you to our sponsors

A Quick Thank You 
Dan
This episode is brought to you by our amazing Patrons on Patreon. It’s 100% free to join the Bunny Trails community, so give our weekly discussions and poll questions a try!

Shauna
If you love our content and want more, 
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Dan
You can also get awesome name recognition like Pat Rowe and JGP do every episode. And our top spot is currently occupied by the amazing Mary Halsig Lopez.

You can join the Bunny Trails community for free at bunny trails pod on Patreon. 

That’s patreon.com/bunnytrailspod 

How it's used today

Roger was further reinforced in pop culture throughout the late 1900s. 

1980
It appears in the 1980 comedy Airplane!. In one scene, as the plane taxis to the runway, confusion breaks out among the pilots, navigation, and control tower… who are named Victor, Clarence, and Roger. It leads to a rapid exchange of “Roger” and “Roger that” as well as some confusion when asking for their vector and requesting clearance. They each continue responding to their name being said as well as to the words that sound like their names such as the acknowledgement of “Roger that” being given.

The clip is on YouTube thanks to Movieclips and it’s just ridiculous humor and so much fun. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDUkR3DOFw 

We’ll talk a little bit more about confusing radio jargon in our behind the scenes video which airs every Friday on Patreon. That’s at patreon.com/BunnyTrailspod. 

2008
The phrase also shows up in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which aired 2008-2020. In the show, the battle droids frequently respond with “Roger, roger.”

In a clip shared by Star Wars, the droids quickly agree to search for a Jedi on Rodia, responding with their usual “Roger, roger.”
https://www.starwars.com/video/roger-roger 
https://www.starwars.com/films/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace 

The repetition makes the line feel mechanical and honestly, a bit humorous. There are numerous droids and they all keep repeating “roger, roger” back and forth. In fact many people today refer to these particular battle droids as Roger Roger Droids. 

Current
The phrase also appears in gaming. A mobile game by Belka Games is titled “Roger That: Merge Adventure!” Here is an intro for the game on their website, 

Quote
Dive into “Roger That: Merge Adventure!” and explore the Pirate Kingdom through innovative merging and thrilling expeditions. Help Roger and Lotta renovate and explore mysterious lands, uncovering family secrets and hidden treasures.
End Quote
https://belka-games.com/games/roger 

This one is about pirates which makes me think of Jolly Roger. So the game uses the term Roger with layered meaning. 

Shauna:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included, reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod, or comment on our website, bunnytrailspod.com

Poll question 

Dan:

It’s poll time! 

Recently we asked our Patrons: How do you feel about AI tools?

38% said I don’t trust them.
Cautiously optimistic and overhyped followed closely behind, with only 13% stating that they love them! 

Jan said: 
Quote
I don’t have a favorite, but I do try to use and compare them. I kind of see them like Wikipedia. Wouldn’t want to use them as a main source, but a good place to start.
End Quote

Emily shared:
Quote
They’re great for solving problems faster than myself. Eg, I needed dates for all the Thursdays in the semester. I could figure it out myself, but AI can do it faster
End Quote

Cheryl added: 
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I've used ai to help me with adhd stuff I struggle with like putting things in my calendar, reminders, focus, breaking my tasks down. It does have a large environmental cost though.
End Quote

Shauna: 

Glitterfluff shared: 
Quote 
I appreciate AI that helps us optimize efficiencies and help with things like scheduling, pathing, diagnostics, etc. 

I have a deep loathing for all things generative AI.

I have had friends wasted HOURS of my time for days where I was trying to have meaningful conversations about the intersectionality of queerness and race, only to find out they had been feeding my side into chatGPT and then sending me paragraphs of generated text. 

And the art is bad. I was very interested early on for how AI could help me create references for my own original pieces. “Give me a squirrel in a party hat riding a wooden horse,” and then I could use that as a reference image to draw my own work. So much faster than searching Google for reference photos and frankensteining them together like a serial killer. But at this point I have so much anger about how the people who own and manage AI services that I won’t use them even for that. 
End Quote 

There really is a lot happening very quickly in regards to AI integration within our daily lives. I prefer to keep AI at a little distance, though I use it with some frequency. I don’t want to have accounts and don’t save history. And I avoid the use of AI tools that are available within programs. When I’m teaching, I tell people that they should view AI resources as a tool… it is not a trusted source and it is not always accurate. In fact, most AI tools will tell you that themselves. So, be careful when using it. 

Dan: 
Mary said
Quote
I don’t trust it, which seems weird from a person who once planned to be an AI coder. However, I don’t want AI making medical decisions about whether a procedure or test should be approved. I don’t mind doctors using it to speed access to knowledge because they can still choose which sources to trust. 

I tested out AI for grammar correction but then I ended up editing the heck out of it anyway. That said, I liked some of the wording choices it gave me, but when I write, I want it to be my words. 
End quote

This poll was a few months ago, and I feel like everyone’s opinions may have changed over the last few months, for good or ill. For me, I went from cautiously optimistic to mostly against AI pretty quickly. I recognize there are many things that AI could help with. But I do not trust the people or companies creating them. There is a meme with an image of the Jetsons TV show in the first panel with the AI robot doing the chores while George Jetson is painting titled “What we thought AI would be used for”. In the second panel the roles are reversed titled “What AI is actually used for”. It speaks to how companies are stealing human art to train AIs and then replacing human artists with AI creation. 

As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. And patrons of all levels, including our free tiers, can take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!

Outro

Dan:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember, 

Together:
Words belong to their users.