# 5 x 5 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2000, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914 "2000-03-01T06:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/1 "2000-03-01T06:03:00Z")
## Heard it on “Buffy” the last couple o’ weeks. Someone asked Faith, the slutty “bad girl” how she was doing, and she replied “five by five,” meaning “everything’s peachy.” Not hanging out with the young-uns anymore, I’d never heard this phrase. Where does it come from? What does it mean? And where the hell is Oz? “The dawn of a new era is felt and not measured.” Walter Lord ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/2 "2000-03-01T06:09:00Z")
I believe Oz is Australia and perhaps New Zealand. Ray ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/3 "2000-03-01T06:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Beruang: > \*\* And where the hell is Oz? > \*\* Over the Rainbow? Actually he needed time off for some movie project. He is supposed to return so,or so I heard some where. ---
**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/4 "2000-03-01T06:12:00Z")
one possible source is the old military radio term for" I hear you loud[5] and clear[5]. In voice communication it was “5 by 5” If I remember correctly it was expressed in morse as QSL 5x5. ---
**Author:** ![Joools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6de8d8/32.png) [@Joools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joools)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/5 "2000-03-01T07:50:00Z")
It probably bears mentioning that the same phrase is used by the drop-ship pilot in “Aliens” during the descent to the planet: “I’m in the pipe, five by five.” Until now I had always assumed this meant something much more technical than “I’m in the pipe, a-ok.” * * * Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way if they get mad, you’re already a mile away. And they don’t have any shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/6 "2000-03-01T09:50:00Z")
Yep, “Five by Five” is a phrase used by military, amateur radio, and other technical types. When grading a transmission, there is a 1-5 scale for power of the signal, and clarity. A 5X5 signal would be one received with plenty of excess power, and with no discernable hum, static, whine, or other types of interference. Over time it became a shorthand way of saying, “things are just right”. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/7 "2000-03-01T12:35:00Z")
… and Oz had a werewolf interlude with a female werewolf. He feared that his animal instincts were getting the better of him, and he wanted to get away from people he might hurt, so he ran off to find himself. Lycanthropy is not an easy thing to bear… er, to wolf. The rumour is that he will be back, the actor wanted time off for other projects. ---
**Author:** ![InutilisVisEst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d2c977/32.png) [@InutilisVisEst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InutilisVisEst)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-x-5/7914/8 "2000-03-01T13:43:00Z")
Spooky. This is the 3rd time in a month where I’ve gotten an itch, looked something up, then had it apopear here as a thread. Previous posts are almost right: it’s 1-5 clarity and 1-5 loudness, which makes it “clear and loud” instead of “loud and clear.” Go figure. [http://www.aopa.ch/xgloss.htm](http://www.aopa.ch/xgloss.htm)