Originally Posted by
Mach E Avelli
"Affirmative" was replaced with "affirm" in ICAO-speak at least 15 years ago. But it takes some people a long time to break old habits. One of the classic Oz confusions for foreigners was the use of "left" when vacating or passing a level or altitude. They would hear "left 180" and wonder why the other guy was suddenly flying south. Even when it got changed, the old 'left..." hung around for years.
Local variations still creep in to R/T. Our local volunteer marine coastwatch mob love "Romeo" for 'Yes' - as in "is that a Romeo?" I can't bring myself to respond with anything other than "affirm",although I should really say "yes" as that is standard in the marine world, as is "no" - though that has potential to confuse the Greeks!
Romeo means Received eg Message Received, similar to Roger. It does not necessarily mean Yes.