[george wythe]

That approach seemed just fine with his loyal listeners, who proudly call themselves "ditto-heads" for their frequent agreement with Limbaugh.

My recollection of the reason for ditto is slightly different.

When Rush first went national, many callers would start their comments by saying something to the effect of "Rush, I've been a conservative for many years, and I found a breath of fresh air on your radio show. My family and I love your show. . ."

After a few dozen of those introductory comments, a caller said "Ditto" to the previous caller's introduction and went on to the real reason for his call. Then the rest of the callers starting saying "Ditto" to avoid syrupy introductions.

Since many of the Dittoheads call to disagree with Rush, Ditto seems more of a shorthand for "I love your show" than a code for "I agree with Rush."

I wonder if other Freepers have a different take on this.

[Sans-Culotte]

George: I heard Rush explain the "dittoes" in almost your exact words a while back (I think it was his 15 or 20 year anniversary or something in the last year or two). I'd always thought the dittoes were for agreeing with his statements until he (and now you) set the record straight as to the source of the dittoes.

There's a local talk-radio host here in Houston named Chris Baker who does a similar thing. Instead of wasting airtime with a lot of stuff like "Hi, Chris-how ya doin'", and "Fine, how 'bout yourself?", he asks that callers say "Yahoo, Chris", and he says "Back at ya", and so on. Smae thing as the dittoes, basically.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Ditto seems more of a shorthand for "I love your show" than a code for "I agree with Rush."

This is my understanding.