# Five by five

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 29, 2000, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810 "2000-05-29T17:24:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810/1 "2000-05-29T17:24:39Z")

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I’m a big _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ fan, and I’m wondering about a phrase used by one of the characters, Faith, to indicate that everything’s good.

“Five by five,” she says.

What does it mean? Someone I know says it has something to do with aviation. Can anyone enlighten me?

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810/2 "2000-05-29T18:05:15Z")

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[Here](http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/bulletin_board/messages/2832.html) is a thread at a site called Phrasefinder that indicates it’s a confirmation of sufficient reception in radio communication.

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**Author:** ![JonF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JonF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonF)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810/3 "2000-05-29T18:17:15Z")

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Yup, signal strength is rated on a scale of one to five and clarity is also rated on a scale of one to five. Five by five is as good as it gets.

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**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810/4 "2000-05-29T23:17:50Z")

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Jeez, what’s with this question? It’s been asked like two times in the past month.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810/5 "2000-05-30T21:47:48Z")

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Sometimes, a short chubby person is referred to as “five by five,” (feet) but, given the context, I’d go with the radio reception meaning.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-by-five/20810/6 "2000-05-30T23:05:34Z")

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what JonF and beatle said.

From this page, [Aviation Glossary](http://www.aopa.ch/xgloss.htm)

[5 by 5](http://www.aopa.ch/xgloss.htm#QQ) : Five by five is an expression used in aviation (and maybe other) radio communication to indicate the quality and loudness of received voice transmissions. Rated one to five indicates - first figure - clearness and - second - loudness. Five by five means that a transmission is received clear and loud (in clear words usually loud and clear is used…). One by one, on the other hand, means it can hardly be heard and is not understandable. If you have a loud but distorted transmission, you may hear two by five, and a weak but clearly understandable one may be called five by three…