I am a pilot. I am used to ATC asking "Ready to COPY?" -- meaning that they are asking me to get ready to COPY something down on paper. The usual case is a clearance.

I was watching Star Wars today on Spike and in the final battle the dialog goes

Gold leader do you copy?
I copy that?
Red 12 do you copy?
Copy that?
Did you copy that?
I copied?
Copy that Gold 6?

Where does all this "Copy" crap come from?

Its another example of Lucas's stellar writing.

George Lucas certainly didn't invent the term. I don't know exactly when it came into use, but the word "copy" is commonly used by NASA to mean "message received" or "action observed and acknowledged." For example, the conversation between mission control and the crew of Apollo 11 at the moment of the historic moon landing:

HOUSTON: We copy you down, Eagle.

EAGLE: Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed!

HOUSTON: Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot . . . Roger, we copy. It was beautiful from here, Tranquility. Over.

Of course, since "roger" means basically the same thing as "copy," it's somewhat redundant.

While we're on the subject, where did "over and out" come from? "Over" means "it's your turn to talk now." "Out" or "clear" means "I'm ending transmission, I'm clearing the channel." So why are people in movies and television shows always saying "over and out" on two-way radio? It's confusing and contradictory.

[IMG-LEFT]http://videodetective.com/photos/101/00426913_.jpg[/IMG-LEFT]


And stop calling me Roger.
My name's Shirley!

All I know is that he'd better have those units on the South Ridge repaired by mid-day or there'll be hell to pay.

Copy?

I thought Lucas' favorite was actually copyright.

Huzz

Yeah, "copy" has been used to mean "Understand" in radio traffic for decades.

While we're on the subject, where did "over and out" come from? "Over" means "it's your turn to talk now." "Out" or "clear" means "I'm ending transmission, I'm clearing the channel." So why are people in movies and television shows always saying "over and out" on two-way radio? It's confusing and contradictory.

[IMG-LEFT]http://videodetective.com/photos/101/00426913_.jpg[/IMG-LEFT]


And stop calling me Roger.
My name's Shirley!

In the ol' days of crappy radio communication, you said "over" to indicate you were finished speaking and waiting for a response ("Do you copy me? Over"), you used "over and out" when you were signing off or finished with the entire transmission("I copy you, maintain radio silence till 1400. Over and out".)

Though it did lead to a great bit in Airplane.

I think this whole thread has become a bit redundant in some of the posts.... :p

And yeah, that bit in Airplane was hilarious.

Copy that. Over.

...and out.

Roger.

Wha...?

Can I get a vector, Victor?

We have clearance, Clarence

Roger, Roger!

On a serious note for a moment, there is a difference in the meaning. "Roger" simply means "yes". "Copy" means "recorded". So, "Roger, Copy", means, "yes, and I've recorded that". So, "We copy you down, Eagle", means "We've recorded that you've landed."

Similarly, in naval parlance, "Aye" simply means, "I heard you". "Aye, aye," means, "I heard and will comply".

We now return you to your regularly scheduled silliness, already in progress.

:wave:

F-A-B!

Huzz:p

And here I am still trying to figure out "can you here me now?":freak:

Check.....Roger........Over......

:woohoo:

Wilco.

[IMG-LEFT]http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/anderson/scarlet/images/340/blue_scarlet.jpg[/IMG-LEFT]


S.I.G.!

10-4 Good Buddy!

10-4 Good Buddy!We can be thankful that at least that's one fad we know is never coming back. Now that everyone and their Aunt Lena has a cellphone, a return of the CB radio craze seems highly unlikely.

I mean, what were we thinking back in the ’70s? Polyester leisure suits, men with long sideburns and blow-dried hair, pet rocks, mood rings, the AMC Pacer, and everyone wanting to talk like a trucker???

Catch you on the flip-flop!

10-4! Check out the seat covers on that 4-wheeler, but stay on the double-nickle 'cause we got a bear in the air, c'mon back.

You bet your bippy.

That should read, "You bet your sweet bippy," c'mon back. :p

God I love this place... I come here when I DON'T want to feel old! (I have virtually NO friends who would have even gotten the "sweet bippy" joke, or the trucker talk.)

Edjumacate them:

http://www.dvdplanet.com/details.cfm/info/RHI970122
http://www.dvdplanet.com/details.cfm/info/RHI970136
http://www.dvdplanet.com/details.cfm/info/MVD010102
http://www.dvdplanet.com/details.cfm/info/MGM1001273DVD

:)

Well... this only seems appropriate...

Uh, Breaker One-Nine, this here's the Rubber Duck
You got a copy on me Pig-Pen? C'mon

Uh, yeah 10-4 Pig Pen, fer sure, fer sure
By golly it's clean clear to Flag-Town, C'mon

Uh, yeah, that's a big 10-4 Pig-Pen,
Yeah, we definitely got us the front door good buddy,
Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy

Was the dark of the moon, on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth, pullin' logs
Cabover Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We 'as headin' fer bear on I-One-Oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky-Town
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
An' I'm about to put the hammer on down

Cause we gotta little ol' convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta little ol' convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA
Convoy... Convoy...

Uh, breaker Pig-Pen, this here's The Duck
Uh, you wanna back off them hogs
10-4, 'bout five mile or so, 10-roger
Them hogs is gittin' in-tense up here

By the time we got into Tulsa-Town
We had eighty-five trucks in all
But they's a road block up on the clover leaf
An' them bears 'as wall to wall
Yeah them smokies 'as thick as bugs on a bumper
They even had a bear-in-the-air
I sez callin' all trucks, this here's The Duck
We about to go a huntin' bear

Cause we gotta great big convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta great big convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA
Convoy... Convoy...

Uh, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that Pig-Pen?
Uh, negatory Pig-Pen, yer still too close
Yeah, them hogs is startin' close up my sinuses
Mercy sakes, you better back off another ten

Well we rolled up interstate fourty-four
Like a rocket sled on rails
We tore up all a our swindle sheets
An' left 'em settin' on the scales
By the time we hit that Chi-Town
Them bears was a gittin' smart
They'd brought up some reinforcements
From the Illinois National Guard
There 'as armored cars, and tanks, and Jeeps
An' rigs of every size
Yeah them chicken coops 'as full a bears
An' choppers filled the skies
Well we shot the line, an' we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
And eleven long-haired friends of Jesus
In a chartreusse microbus

Hey Sod Buster, listen
You wanna put that microbus in behind the suicide jockey?
Yeah, he's haulin dynamite
He needs all the help he can git

Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
We just ain't a gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin' ninety-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4

Cause we gotta mighty convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta mighty convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA
Convoy... Convoy...

Uh, 10-4 Pig-Pen, what's yer 20?
Omaha?!
Well they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer sure
Well mercy sakes alive good buddy
We gonna back on outta here
So keep the bugs off yer glass
An' the bears off yer... tail
We gonna catch ya on the flip-flop
This here's the Rubber Duck on the side
We gone
Bye, Bye...

Brother Rubber???

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w297/Zombie_61/Miscellaneous/Rubber_Duck.jpg

That is the baddest looking duck I've ever seen!

Scary thought-

I was in Radio Shack about a week ago, and they had a Cobra CB. At first glance, it looked exactly like the one I had in my '69 Mustang...

Until I noticed it was set up for Bluetooth. :freak:

YAY! I now make this reference to ' Convoy 'relivant to model kits by showing my Rubber Duck Truck . I just love that movie ! I have a second RD truck that I built when I was a kid. Not the most accurate kit though... " Attention driver Martin Penwalt ..." * quack quack *

That rubber duck was also on the Nova in Death Proof. I guess he 'copied that'.

http://www.deathproofcar.com/

That rubber duck was also on the Nova in Death Proof. I guess he 'copied that'.

http://www.deathproofcar.com/Oh, you bet. Tarantino's a big "movie car" buff. In addition to the rubber duck hood ornament, the number on the license plate of Stuntman Mike's Nova in Death Proof was the same as on Bullitt's Mustang in Bullitt--JJZ-109. The yellow 1972 Mustang is a reference to Eleanor in the original Gone In Sixty Seconds. And, of course, the 1970 Dodge Challenger is a direct reference to the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T driven by Kowalski (Barry Newman) in Vanishing Point.

Where does all this "Copy" crap come from?

George Lucas did not make that jargon up out of nowhwere.

I am surprised that you never heard of that term since you are a pilot that needs to talk on the radio. I am a ham, or amateur, radio operator and used to work in mountain rescue in Seattle. We used that terminology all of the time.

Radio operators usually ask "did you copy that" in order to get feedback from the intended party that their transmission got through. Kind of like "did you read me". Another way to handle it is to just respond, copy, or 10-4 (CB lingo), I read you loud and clear, or message received.