So I just read the other thread about the K language[1] and how it's so-very-concise syntax made the author feel certain ways.
But that has nothing on this! From page 70 of the International Code of Signals[2], we find that PG 2 means, "I am dazzled by your searchlight. Extinguish it or lift it."
Not bad, but what if you reply with "AX 1"? Lots going on there! "Shall I train my searchlight nearly vertical on a cloud, intermittently if possible, and, if your aircraft is seen, deflect the beam upwind and on the water to facilitate your landing?"
I have a copy of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Code of Signals on my bookshelf.
3 letter medical flag codes include:
MKH Foreskin will not go back to normal position
MKI Patient has swelling of the testicles
MLF Patient has Delirium Tremens
It's a comprehensive book to say the least!
greggsy 265 days ago [-]
I wonder how many times MLF has been used for a ship’s captain?
ragazzina 264 days ago [-]
Strange there's no flag meaning "Discard all previous/following flags".
GJim 264 days ago [-]
YN Cancel my last signal/message
Or in the case of medical flags...
MPR Patient has died
might do the job.
nocoiner 264 days ago [-]
Y38.5 - medical diagnosis code indicating injury caused by terrorism involving the use of nuclear weapons.
wrycoder 265 days ago [-]
This is from 100 Rabbits. Great job!!
One of my favorite flag signals is, “Nothing can be done until high tide.”
ahazred8ta 265 days ago [-]
US1 Nothing can be done until daylight. US2 Nothing can be done until tide has risen. US3 Nothing can be done until visibility improves. US4 Nothing can be done until weather moderates. US5 Nothing can be done until draft is lightened. US6 Nothing can be done until tugs have arrived.
raldi 265 days ago [-]
I liked the Flag Semaphore page it linked to, but it raises the question: Why are the letters almost, but not quite in clockwise order?
If you sort by clock position, you get:
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U Y Cancel # J V W X Z
Was it invented by someone whose alphabet didn't have J, V, W, X, Z?
acidburnNSA 265 days ago [-]
Fun fact based on the bottom panel: the peace sign (inverted y) is based on the flag semaphore signs for N and D, originally standing for Nuclear Disarmament.
raldi 265 days ago [-]
This sounds like one of those ridiculous "facts" that gets passed around by word-of-mouth despite seeming suspiciously just-so.... and yet in this case, it appears to totally check out.
euroderf 264 days ago [-]
The alternative explanation was that the peace sign is an abstraction of the foot of a dove.
This seems like a great system, but in many years of sailing I've never encountered it actually used. For the most part is only possible to be used by large commercial vessels, but those vessels already have a dozen other redundant communication systems that are clearer and faster. Operators of small private vessels aren't likely to even know this system exists, not alone carry all of these flags, a code book, and a system for hoisting flags.
In one of the Aubrey&Maturin books, in order to encourage their sailors to ask the local women to dance, Aubrey decorates a ballroom with a hoist equivalent to: http://www.wightmistress.com/wightmistress.com/IHYC_Flag_Eti... , engage the enemy more closely
sellmesoap 264 days ago [-]
A blue water sailing vessel might have a yellow Q flag on board for 'quarantine', signaling for officials to come document the arrival in a foreign port.
somat 265 days ago [-]
I have only seen it on US navy vessels, I have never seen it used for communications, but they like to put up the ships id on the flags, And I always enjoy breaking out the manual and fumble my way through deciphering the flags when I see them.
264 days ago [-]
tialaramex 265 days ago [-]
Yes. Anything serious is internationally required to carry (and many smaller things would be required by local laws, or strongly advised to carry anyway) a modern digital maritime radio - the technology is called DSC, Digital Selective Calling.
UniverseHacker 265 days ago [-]
Yes- and even many cheap handheld VHFs have DSC nowadays.
IMHO it's very useful for IT/computer people to have this memorized as it is fairly common to have to spell something out to someone orally (over phone, video call, in office).
Even day-to-day life: to spell your personal name or street name.
fastasucan 264 days ago [-]
I don't know if it is just me, but it seems like english speakers have to spell out stuff a lot more than other languages (or at least my native language). I have never heard anyone having to spell out anything in f.ex a podcast in my native language, but it happens quite regular in english speaking shows. Is english more prone to have muted sounds/letters?
Maakuth 264 days ago [-]
Yes, yes it is. My understanding is that it used to be spoken in a way closer to the written form, but it has drifted. And then there are all the loan words that retain at least some of their original pronunciation.
In my experience, normal people are quite confused by this. I've heard "Is that Juliette with a J?" and facepalmed.
petschge 264 days ago [-]
In my experience people understand perfectly well but assume that you are ex-military.
dctoedt 264 days ago [-]
> In my experience people understand perfectly well but assume that you are ex-military.
When I use phonetic alphabet on the phone, I preface it by saying, "Let me spell it in 'airline pilot': ...." (But yes, I learned it in the Navy.)
lelandfe 264 days ago [-]
It feels like magic to be able to highlight and translate the Russian and Japanese birds on macOS. Japanese bird: "Help me!" Russian bird: "I understand!" And I do too!
Interesting that “Oscar” is pronounced “OSS CAH” and not “OSS CAR”. Same with Victor. Must have been made in New England (northeastern US).
tialaramex 265 days ago [-]
These pronounciations are for the International radiotelephonic spelling alphabet, often referred to as a "NATO Phonetic alphabet". For numerals procedures vary slightly, and they've chosen IMO. The sounds are chosen to try to maximize the chance that two people who know this system, even if they don't speak any shared languages, will successfully communicate the symbols intended, so they're not about how you might pronounce these words in any particular place, but rather a plausible pronunciation everybody can approximate and understand.
euroderf 264 days ago [-]
This makes sense. "R" is throaty in (e.g.) English and French, and a tap or a trill in many other languages.
f1shy 264 days ago [-]
Allow me to be pedantic: In some dialects of english.
raldi 265 days ago [-]
I thought 5 was supposed to be pronounced "fife" but this page only seems to half say that. ("faif" in the first row, but "five" in the second)
ahazred8ta 262 days ago [-]
IIRC in WWII the UK settled on 'fife' and nine, while the US went with five and 'niner'. Arthur C. Clarke's novel Glide Path described the adoption of fife.
brickers 265 days ago [-]
Or… England?
cbsks 265 days ago [-]
Ouch. My stereotypically-American US-centric bias is showing :)
pc86 265 days ago [-]
Old England.
kevin_thibedeau 265 days ago [-]
With the new non-rhotic affectation.
eadmund 264 days ago [-]
Which is really getting out of hand, to the point that some English speakers are starting to sound positively French: ‘cweam’ instead of ‘cream’ the same way the French turned ‘rex’ into ‘wa.’
I blame the EU.
f1shy 264 days ago [-]
I was tempted to say "parts of England"... but I wanted to mean "parts of the united Kingdom"... so... you are right :)
nnf 265 days ago [-]
This is a neat style, and I was pleased to see that the author included accessible text since the visible text on the page is all in images.
NKosmatos 265 days ago [-]
Nice cartoonishly font, clear language, nice graphics and fast to load… why can’t more pages be like this one?
Tepix 264 days ago [-]
It's all graphics²! I think unicode has symbols for the flag alphabet, that would be another option.
² To be fair, there appears to be alternative text for those who cannot see the graphics
graypegg 264 days ago [-]
Just FYI, for anyone that didn't notice (like me at first), words in a dashed box are links! There's a description of dayshapes, and lots more info about semaphore on other pages.
f1shy 264 days ago [-]
I really like the 3-way-handshake at the end...
foo42 265 days ago [-]
I never knew anything about this. I love discovering this sort of thing!
Rendered at 19:18:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
But that has nothing on this! From page 70 of the International Code of Signals[2], we find that PG 2 means, "I am dazzled by your searchlight. Extinguish it or lift it."
Not bad, but what if you reply with "AX 1"? Lots going on there! "Shall I train my searchlight nearly vertical on a cloud, intermittently if possible, and, if your aircraft is seen, deflect the beam upwind and on the water to facilitate your landing?"
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41886051
[2] https://rabbitwaves.ca/media/docs/ics_pub102bk.pdf
3 letter medical flag codes include:
MKH Foreskin will not go back to normal position
MKI Patient has swelling of the testicles
MLF Patient has Delirium Tremens
It's a comprehensive book to say the least!
Or in the case of medical flags...
MPR Patient has died
might do the job.
One of my favorite flag signals is, “Nothing can be done until high tide.”
If you sort by clock position, you get:
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U Y Cancel # J V W X Z
Was it invented by someone whose alphabet didn't have J, V, W, X, Z?
I'd go with the semaphore explanation.
In one of the Aubrey&Maturin books, in order to encourage their sailors to ask the local women to dance, Aubrey decorates a ballroom with a hoist equivalent to: http://www.wightmistress.com/wightmistress.com/IHYC_Flag_Eti... , engage the enemy more closely
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet
IMHO it's very useful for IT/computer people to have this memorized as it is fairly common to have to spell something out to someone orally (over phone, video call, in office).
Even day-to-day life: to spell your personal name or street name.
Here's a fun clip about it, focusing on British place names: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYNzqgU7na4
When I use phonetic alphabet on the phone, I preface it by saying, "Let me spell it in 'airline pilot': ...." (But yes, I learned it in the Navy.)
There are a couple more in this series here: https://rabbitwaves.ca/site/about.html
I blame the EU.
² To be fair, there appears to be alternative text for those who cannot see the graphics