Aye aye, sir

"Aye aye, sir" is a phrase commonly heard in present-day naval language. It is derived from a duplicate of the word "aye" which came into the English language in the late 16th century and early 17th century, meaning "Yes; even so.".[1]

Description

"Aye" was common in dialect and is the formal word for voting "yes" in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

The most common use of "Aye aye, sir" is as a naval response indicating that an order has been received, is understood, and will be carried out immediately[2]. It differs from "yes", which, in standard usage, could mean simple agreement without any intention to act. In naval custom, a reply of "yes sir" would indicate agreement to a statement that was not understood as an order or a requirement to do anything. The alternatives of "aye aye sir" and "yes sir" would allow any misunderstanding to be corrected at once. This might be a matter of life and death for a ship at sea.

Basically, it means that the speaker understands and will obey a direct order.

Aye = Yes, that is correct.

Aye Aye = I understand, and will comply.

Controversy surrounds "Aye Aye" for its repetition. While the "Customs and Courtesies" of the Marine Corps (USMC) defines "Aye Aye" as mentioned above, US naval officers disagree. US Seaman (and Seaman Recruits) are trained to simply say "Aye sir" regardless of context, (i.e.):

1) HR: 'Make your depth 50 meters.'

LR: 'Aye aye, sir'

2) HR: 'Have you field-stripped your rifle today?'

LR: 'Aye, sir'

Per the examples above, "Yes sir" would be correct. Repetition of the acknowledgement would translate[3] to "Yes, Yes sir"

In other words, this may be the naval equivalent to the aeronautical difference between "Roger" and "Wilco"[4], but Merriam-Webster (US) and the Oxford English Dictionary (UK) are not in agreement.

References

  1. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary. "Aye Aye". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Customs and Courtesies" (PDF). United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Definition of AYE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  4. ↑ "Roger Wilco". Wikipedia. 2017-08-17.


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