Gary wrote:
I do understand sound signals, what we are talking about here is voice
communications with slang terms. It would be clear to me what two
short blasts on an opposing vessels whistle meant. It still would not
be clear to me what he means if he calls me up and says; "How about a
two whistle pass?"

Please go back and read the rules on signals. Maybe you didn't
understand the discussion.

Gary,
Thank you for your response. Like I said, I am just starting to study
the rules in earnest for the OUPV test, so I'm no expert - yet...
I actually was reading the section on signals when I wrote that. And
as I said, I may have misunderstood the discussion that was taking
place. Its just that it seemed reasonable to me that if you have a good
understanding of signals, then you should recognize the meaning in a
radio exchange about them. But of course I agree that if I were to hear
that particular request on the radio, I would most certainly immediately
ask for a specific clarification as to meaning and intent (especially if
I could not immediately determine the meaning from observation of the
position and movement of the vessels involved) - just so I am absolutely
clear. While the radio request example cited in the post was perhaps not
as clear as it could have been, I believe it was made as a suggestion of
a general type of statement about communicating a request (again, I do
agree that the cited example could be confusing from lack of clarity).
Perhaps I am more attuned than the average person to listening carefully
to radio exchange meanings since I learned to fly over in Spain where
you hear mostly *Spanglish* over the radio, and different *regional*
Spanglish with accents to boot!