Ham radio slang
| Ham radio slang | |
|---|---|
| What it is | Informal vocabulary used by amateur operators |
| Main sources | Telegraph-era abbreviations, Q-codes and hobby jargon |
| Best-known term | 73 (best regards) |
| Where heard | On the air, at club meetings and on internet forums |
| Abbreviations used mostly on | CW, where they save time |
Ham radio slang is the informal vocabulary amateur operators use on the air, at club meetings and on internet forums. Some of it comes from the telegraph era, when operators shortened common words to save time in Morse code; some comes from Q-codes that drifted into everyday speech; and some is simply the affectionate or teasing language of a hobby more than a century old. Newcomers hear these terms constantly, and knowing them makes on-air conversation and ham publications much easier to follow.
Telegraph abbreviations
Many abbreviations were created for CW and are still sent there every day. On voice most are replaced by ordinary words, though operators often say "FB" or "73" aloud. The best known are 73 (best regards) and 88 (love and kisses), both survivors of the numbered codes used by 19th-century landline telegraphers. "73" is never pluralized as "73s" by careful operators, since it already means "best regards".
Common terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 5 by 9 | A perfect signal report: readability 5 and strength 9. Often given automatically, especially in contests. |
| 73 | Best regards. The standard way to end a contact. |
| 88 | Love and kisses, used between spouses or close family on the air. |
| Appliance operator | A gently mocking term for a ham who uses only factory-built gear and has little interest in how it works. Most modern hams are appliance operators to some degree. |
| Armchair copy | Signals so strong and clear they can be copied while relaxing in a chair. Similar in meaning to "solid copy". |
| Big gun | A station with large antennas, often on towers, and high power. Big guns are prominent in contests and DX pileups. |
| Boat anchor | Old, heavy equipment, usually with vacuum tubes. See Boat anchors. |
| CUL | See you later. |
| ES | And. Quicker to send in Morse than the word AND. |
| FB | Fine business: excellent, very good. "FB on the new antenna." |
| Ham cram | A one-day class that reviews the question pool and ends with a license exam. |
| Hi hi | Laughter on CW, from the cheerful sound of "HI HI" in Morse. Some operators say it aloud on voice as a joke, but many longtime CW operators dislike hearing it on voice and feel it belongs on CW only. |
| Kerchunk | Keying a repeater briefly without speaking or identifying, just to hear it come on. It is considered poor practice, since the rules prohibit unidentified transmissions. |
| Lid | A poor or careless operator, such as one who transmits over others or never identifies. One of the oldest insults in radio. |
| Little pistol | The opposite of a big gun: a modest station, perhaps 100 watts and a wire antenna. |
| OM | Old man: any male ham, regardless of age. |
| OT | Old timer: an operator licensed for many years. A term of respect. |
| Rubber-stamp contact | A minimal, formula contact: signal report, name, location, equipment, weather and 73, with no real conversation. |
| Tail-ending | Calling a station immediately after it finishes a contact with someone else, rather than waiting for a new CQ. Common in DXing; it should be done promptly and politely. |
| TNX | Thanks (also TKS). TU (thank you) is common in contests. |
| UR | Your or you're. "UR RST 579." |
| XYL | A ham's wife (originally "ex-young lady"). |
| YL | Young lady: any female ham, regardless of age. |
Other everyday words
A few more terms are so common that they rarely seem like slang. A rig is a radio. The shack is the room or corner where the station lives. An HT (handie-talkie) is a handheld transceiver. An Elmer is a mentor who helps a newcomer. DX means distant stations. A Silent Key is a ham who has died. A brass pounder is a CW operator, after the brass levers of old telegraph keys.
Using slang well
Slang is part of the fun, but plain language is always correct. A newcomer who says "thanks" instead of "TNX" on voice, or "where are you?" instead of "what's your QTH?", is doing nothing wrong, and is often easier to understand. On CW, by contrast, abbreviations are expected, because they save time and every experienced operator recognizes them.
Some terms are meant affectionately and some are not. Calling another operator a lid on the air starts arguments rather than ending them, and good operating etiquette avoids it. Terms like OM and YL are traditional, but many operators simply use names.