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Comment by quickthrower2 | Hacker News Reader

Can anyone comment where the common phrase "OVER AND OUT" comes from, if it is not used in this scheme at all.

Most likely from movies and other pop culture. Real radio code is intentionally stiff so movie screenwriters try and make it sound right but more friendly.

Ive heard that it is essentially a joke or insult. You are saying "you can carry on talking but I'm not listening".

This probably originates from half duplex communication where the sending side indicates they are done sending by saying over. In the military, the ranking side is entitled to end the conversation by adding "out"

The article talks about it, how it never makes sense to say both because the phrases are redundant and contradictory. You would either say one or the other to indicate that you have finished speaking, your choice indicating if you intend to hear a response or not.

Not 100% but I learned that it's bad form because "out" subsumes "over" so saying them together is redundant.

The linked page very clearly states they are opposites. Over indicates an expectation for response, out does the opposite.

Not just redundant. "Over" means you're done talking now, so you shouldn't say anything else afterwards, even "and out".

You don't say that, you either say "over" (I've finished talking, go ahead and talk more yourself) or you say "out" (I'm done talking on the radio now, bye).

You seem to be downvoted, which is strange even though the article says:

> Contrary to popular belief, "OVER" and "OUT" are never used at the same time, since their meanings are mutually exclusive.

I guess the question here is why is it a popcultural phrase?

I can only guess it was from Hollywood, but in the military no one uses it because it's wrong. People down vote for several reasons, but I don't worry about that usually, I'm just here to talk to others a bit and read about technology.

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