Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

GroundLimit

Member Since

July 2, 2013

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

7

Bio

Latest Comments

Five by Five

  • July 2, 2013, 5:37pm

Yep, as mentioned above it's a radio comm phrase, but turned into slang (like everything else) by the military meaning something like "things are good"

When you answer a radio call you can report back how well you can understand the transmission. You use two ratings, both number from 1 to 5. The first number is the signal strength. The second number is the clarity (amount of static) aka (signal to noise ration).

So for a fair signal you might say 3x3, but if you can hear them loud and clear, then you say 5 by 5, or just 5by, or fiver or who knows what else since I was in.

GroundLimit Out. (not over and out, dunno where that came from ;)