October 4, 2007
Roger That, Big Daddy. Rubber Ducky, Whatcher 10-20?Posted by Bryan
Today is National 10-4 Day.
You can send a card to a radioing loved one to show that, when asked if you remembered, you can reply with the affirmative, "That's a 10-4."
When I discovered there was no web site officially honoring this day, I got curious about what the opposite was to "10-4." I don't have an answer for you. Instead, here's a complete list of the "10 Code," which looks like you would have to have in print form to be able to use. This seems counterintuitive to me and a driving hazard, given the dangerous combination of 18 wheels, small fonts, and extensive codification of otherwise simply-stated replies.
Here's an excerpted list of Trucker Speak, thanks to wikipedia:
- "Bear" – a law officer. The terms "Smokey" & "Bear" are both direct references to Smokey Bear, a character image commonly seen along U.S. highways. He wears a flat-brimmed forest ranger's hat very similar to the hat included in many highway patrol uniforms in the U.S.
- "County Mountie" - a Sheriff's deputy car.
- "Evel Knievel" -cop on a motorcycle.
- "Leo" – short for Law Enforcement Officer
- "Local yokel" / "City Kitty" / "Town Clown" - a law officer with a city or township police force, seldom encountered on interstate highways.
- "Band-aid Buggy" / "Meat Wagon" - Ambulance.
- "Breaker" - telling other CB users that you'd like to start a transmission on a channel. May be succeeded by either the channel number, indicating that anyone may acknowledge ("One-nine" refers to channel 19, the most widely used among truck drivers), or by a specific "handle", which is requesting a particular individual to respond.
- "Come back" - a request for someone to acknowledge a transmitted message or reply to a question.
- "Flip-flop" - the return leg of a trip. (ex: "Catch you on the flip-flop" means "I'll contact you again on the way back.")
- "Good buddy" - In the 1970s, this was the stereotypical term for friend on CB radio. It now means a male homosexual.
- "Good neighbor" - this has replaced "good buddy" as the acceptable term for friend.
- "Got your ears on?" - asking the receiver if they are on the air and listening.
- "Handle" - the nickname a CB user uses in CB transmissions. Other CB users will refer to the user by this nickname. To say "What's your handle?" is to ask another user for their CB nickname.
- "Organ Donor" - a civilian motorcyclist.
- "Road pizza" - an animal that has been run over and flattened on the pavement.
- "Steak on the grill" / "Put a steak on the grill" - to hit a cow.
The Trucker's Report offers a similar compendium, but includes a scintillating list of city nicknames, such as "Big A" for Amarillo, "Big D" for Dallas, and "Big Q" for Albuquerque, presumably because "Big A" was already taken.
Okay...don't you just wonder if the people responsible for coining one of these respective terms are particularly proud of the feat, or they just roll on 18-wheeler (thank you Alabama) because that's part of doing business.
Suddenly, a very small part of me is interested in moonlighting as a OTR trucker, if not just for the rare opportunity to contribute to the jargon of the industry. Since I have neither the time nor the resources to enroll at Truck Driver School*, I humbly offer my submissions for consideration here, Good Buddy Neighbor:
- "Cop" - A police officer.
- "Friendly Cop" - A police officer who let me off with a warning.
- "Federale" - A police officer, most likely when driving into Mexico as part of NAFTA
- "Federale Malo" - A police officer who has issued me a citation, or in the case of international commerce, confiscated my cargo and imprisoned me for ransom.
- "Van Halen Reunion Tour" - Receiving multiple citations for exceeding the speed limit, in honor of Sammy Hagar's hit "I can't drive 55" even though he was not with the band when he gave this song to the world. Alternate meaning: Van Halen's actual reunion tour.
- "Moffat County Bulldog" - In honor of my alma mater, this is a canine of the specie canis lupus, particularly if located in the northwestern corner of Colorado.
Oh, and if you see me on the highway, one foot on the floor, one hanging out the door, and she just won't do no more, I will answer only to the handle Fantastic McSpastic.
*Although, I feel duty-bound to note that Trucker English 101 is absent from the class list, which seems to indicate that linguistic development occurs only as one presses down the hammer because he is badger bound and on the lookout for smokies in plain white wrappers.