Five by five
|
|
In Voice procedure (the techniques used to facilitate spoken communication over two way radios) a station may request a report on the quality and strength of signal they are broadcasting. In the military of the NATO countries, and other organisations, the signal quality is reported on two scales; the first is for signal strength, and the second for signal clarity. Both these scales are from one to five, where one is the worst and five is the best. The listening station reports these numbers separated with the word 'by'. Five by five therefore means a signal which has excellent strength and perfect clarity - the most understandable signal possible.
Five by five by extension has come to mean 'I understand you perfectly' in situations other than radio communication.
Example of a radio readability transmission
This is an example of how the system might be used, using British military voice procedure. Station callsign Alpha One wishes to know how well another station, Alpha Two is receiving him.
- Alpha One:Hello Alpha Two, this is Alpha One. How do you read me? Over.
- Alpha Two:Alpha Two. I read you five by five. Over.
Colloquial Use in Popular Culture
The phrase "five by five" was also popularized by a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and its spinoff Angel; the Slayer Faith, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, used it frequently as slang meaning that things were good. "Five By Five" was also the title of an Angel episode which prominently featured Faith.