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Why do pilots say, “Roger”? What does Roger mean in aviation?

Roger is a current radiotelephony ‘proword’ which is a word used to represent a longer phrase.

Roger means, very specifically: “Your message has been received and understood.”

Wilco means: “Your message has been received and understood and I will comply.”

Affirm (note, NOT affirmative) simply means, “Yes,” but is clearer over the radio.

Negative means, “No.”

Over means, “I’ve finished speaking and expect a reply.”

Out means, “I’ve finished speaking and do NOT expect a reply.”

Roger Wilco over and out means, “I am not a pilot.”

(Tom: And just in case you would like to know the origin, I looked it up:

“Received” was abbreviated to “R” for Morse code use then for walkie talkie use extended to “Roger” which was to designate “R” per the US WWII phonetic alphabet.

During WWII, the phonetic alphabet was: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, George, How, Item, Jig, King, Love, Mike, Nan, Oboe, Peter, Queen, Roger, Sugar, Tare, Uncle, Victor, William, X-ray, Yoke, Zebra.

It is now Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu.

From: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a22933/roger-that-origin/