The New Ham Lingo
or
Fingernails on the Blackboard

I've always liked the Sherlock Holmes stories by A. Conan Doyle, probably because the dialogue is vastly different from our modern American version of English.   I can see and appreciate the evolutionary differences in the language and enjoy reading the older style of English.   Similarly, with our ham lingo, I seem to prefer many of the older phrases that were once popular rather than their modern equivalent.   Yes, I do like the term "Aerial" over the modern "Antenna" but "Aerial" sounds so old as to be quaint, so it's not often used.   And I might interchangeably use "Kilocycles" one day and "Kilohertz" the next.  Yet I will always choose "Radio" over the older "Wireless". Nothing can surpass the mystique evoked by the word "Radio".  And with the marketing of new cell phone technology, "Wireless" is now a modern term.

The following terms and phrases seem to be creeping into our current ham lingo.  Here's my commentary on their usage.

"Listening Out"
I hear this phrase often, mostly in the 75 meter AM window.   I kinda like this new phrase and might even use it someday. But I can't remember hearing it in the old days.   You were either "listening on your final" or just "out" but never "listening out".

"Old Buzzard transmission"
This is a new term to denote a very long transmission, usually on AM phone.  In the old AM days, everyone made long transmissions, newcomers and old timers alike.   That was the style in the days before SSB and VOX.  Anyone still operating that way nowadays is probably as old as an old buzzard, hence the new term.   I like the term and use it frequently within my transmissions.

"Got a copy on you/me"
It's "Do you copy me?" or "How do you copy?"  In reply you might say "I copy you solid" or "You are 5 by 5"*   but never ever do you say "Got a copy".   "Got a copy" is CB lingo in it's purest form. Unfortunately, some old time hams are now using this phrase, evidently unaware or uncaring about it's linguistic origins.

*    5 by 5 is another neat anachronism.  It's the old QRK - Readability, QSA - Signal Strength on a 1 through 5 scale, not the newer RST/RS system with signal strength on a 1 through 9 scale.   Using a different signal strength system really helps to confuse the newer hams and most of the older ones too!   For a real laugh, give a report using the SINPO system.

"Swapfest, Swapmeet, Swap"
Anyone using the above terms in place of "Hamfest" is confusing their motorcycling hobby with ham radio.   Yes, I know that "Hamfest" is confusing to the general public and "Swapfest" is more self-explanatory, but us hams have verbal traditions to maintain and need to keep ham radio distinct from other activities where tailgating occurs.   The early hams could have described their trading events as ham flea markets but instead chose to coin the word "Hamfest".   We are fortunate to have our own word, folks.  Let's use it or lose it!

"Base"
Even though the ham equipment manufacturers now give legitimacy to the term "base" it behooves all of us to reject the term and maintain the phrase "home station" instead. "Mobile" is OK. Home station is inferred unless "Mobile" is specified. Yes, "base" has it's origins in the CB/2-way radio industries but traditionally was never used in ham radio until recently.   Don't believe it?  Just check out any old ham radio advertising from the 50's and earlier.  Betcha won't see base used anywhere except possibly to describe a stand for a desk mike or the cabinet of the Johnson Desk KW.

"QSL"
To me, a QSL is a card that comes in the mail. I imagine that CW traffic handlers have always used QSL to acknowledge receipt of a formal CW message, but this is one Q-signal that should never be used on phone.   Use "Roger" instead.  Roger has been around for a long time and pre-dates CB.

IMHO, saying 10-4 is much better than saying QSL. Ten signals came into amateur radio by way of the commercial 2-way radio industry when hams were converting 2-way radio gear to be used on the 2 meter FM band.   This was before ham gear manufacturers developed 2 meter fm gear.  Top notch technical hams were 10-8 on the repeater but never CQ on the repeater.  And they were 10-7 whenever they were destinated!   Yet "I got a 10-2 copy on you" and "what's your 10-20?" were strictly from CB land.

I still think that "destinated" is a fun way of saying that you've reached your destination.  If CB'ers picked up on it, either on their own or from listening to hams, it just means that CB'ers have a sense of humor too.

"The Personal is (name)"
"Personal" is ex-CBer lingo.   This evidently cropped up because ex-CB'ers wanted to lose their CB accent and thought that saying "handle" was part of that accent.   "Handle" has been around for a long time and pre-dates CB.  Use "My name is" instead if you still think "handle" is too hokey.

Referring to ham radio as a "Hobby" or "Sport"
Stamp collecting is a hobby.  Golf is a sport.  Amateur Radio as a service is permissible, but it is much more than that, even if the government maintains it is only a service.   Ham Radio is the celebration of the discovery of Radio Waves. Nothing else can compare to it. If you must use a more compact and acceptable phrase, I prefer "Amateur Radio is a lifestyle". This emphasizes the total involvement with radio that occurs when one is first licensed.

No ham should ever misspell:

  1. Amateur

    If you don't know how to spell amateur, you aren't one!

  2. Receiver

    Before tranceivers were commonplace, hams used a separate receiver and transmitter. On CW they would spell out their station set up. This required them to spell "receiver" many times. Eventually everyone knew how to spell "receiver" if they operated CW. Misspelling "receiver" indicates you might not know the code or never learned your 3 R's. Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. Remember it's "I before E, except after C" !

73's
On phone use either 73 or 73's or both.  On CW, just use 73.  This is my rule despite what the ARRL* says.   This rule came about because if there is more than one person in the QSO or in the shack of anyone you are talking to, you should give a plural 73 to include all possible listeners.   Since you never know how many people are listening to your transmission in the shack of the receiving station, and you don't want to offend them by ignoring their presence, 73's is the preferred usage.   I.E.,   73 Charlie and 88's to your gorgeous XYL, Natasha, and your pretty daughters, Nadine and Noreen. ; 73's guys and catch y'all later.

On CW, use 73, or 72 if QRP, 74 if QRO.  75 if you are QRO in California!

* - The reason most hams believe that a plural 73 is incorrect is because it sounds redundant when translated literally.   Actually, the ARRL is silent on this issue in the "Operating a Station" chapter of most editions of The Radio Amateur's Handbook.   Evidence proves that Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, used the phrase "Best 73's" in his correspondence. Wow! Talk about redundancy! If Best 73's is good enough for the "Old Man" himself, then it's good enough for me.


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