Help with an abrreviation required
- Thread starter Simian
- Start date
Love and Kisses....
Those other meanings of 88
It was surprising to hear in the news this last week of August, 2002, that Target stores have come under fire for selling merchandise such as caps bearing the number 88. The claim is that this stands for "Heil Hitler", with each 8 referring to the 8th letter of the alphabet, "h".
This literally was news to me, among others. It might come as a surprise to those who travel our nearby Highway 88, once designated as the most scenic in the country. It's certainly remarkable to ex-hams (amateur radio operators) -- I was one of these, WA6YPR, in the 1960's. To hams as well as others who used telegraphy and the codes it produce, 88 means "love and kisses".
This is one of many standard abrreviations that arose in the early days of telegraphy, which was used almost exclusively before voice communication became practical. The two numeric abbreviations that are still in most common use (73 and 88) originated naturally and were formalized for the first time in the "92 Code", a list of 92 numeric abbreviations defined by Western Union in 1857 (a fair bit earlier than Nazis). See http://www.qsl.net/ae0q/73.htm for the first web reference that I spotted to this part of history. Many of these codes stuck even when radio communication switched mainly to voice.
73 and 88 are used in amateur radio to sign off a QSO [see below for abbreviations]. Normally an OM would use 73, a YL or XYL would use 88. Depending on circumstances, an OM could sometimes use 88 when signing off with a YL or XYL.
Standard telegraphic and ham (amateur radio) abbreviations:
73 Best regards
88 Love and kisses
QSO A contact (what we in computing would now call a session)
OM Old man -- any male
YL Young lady (unmarried)
XYL Ex-young lady (married)
Also used occasionally were
30 I have no more to send
Newspapers adopted this one as an end-of-copy symbol
33 Fondest regards
55 Best success
The original "92 Code" has evolved over time, but its basis still predates the Nazi Party by roughly half a century. An example of recent evolotion is adoption of 161, (73 + 88) to mean "Best regards to you and your wife".
Some additional information about telegraphy is available at http://www.ac6v.com/morseaids.htm#CW
There undoubtedly are other meanings already in use for 88, but my first try at a Google search failed to turn up any association with "Heil Hitler". A more likely new meaning in pop culture is to represent Hip Hop (see www.88hiphop.com "Bringing hiphop to the information highway" [emblem: Interstate 88]).
The only political group that I spotted on a limited search was one in the United Kingdom called Charter88, probably named for the year of its founding. Its charter (http://www.charter88.org.uk/politics/charter88.html) sounds like it could be a platform for either of the US's main political parties, Democratic or Republican. Its charter might lean slightly toward Libertarian ideals, but it takes a much more moderate advocacy than our Libertarian Party.
It seems to me that suppression of "88" is inappropriate. To most people, and particularly to amateur radio operators, it simply has a totally different meaning than what was just ascribed to it in the news.
Even if 88 were to be clearly only a neo-Nazi symbol I'd still not object to it, all of us have a Constitutional right to freedom of expression. This would then fit exactly the quote generally attributed to Voltaire: "I disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
Those other meanings of 88
It was surprising to hear in the news this last week of August, 2002, that Target stores have come under fire for selling merchandise such as caps bearing the number 88. The claim is that this stands for "Heil Hitler", with each 8 referring to the 8th letter of the alphabet, "h".
This literally was news to me, among others. It might come as a surprise to those who travel our nearby Highway 88, once designated as the most scenic in the country. It's certainly remarkable to ex-hams (amateur radio operators) -- I was one of these, WA6YPR, in the 1960's. To hams as well as others who used telegraphy and the codes it produce, 88 means "love and kisses".
This is one of many standard abrreviations that arose in the early days of telegraphy, which was used almost exclusively before voice communication became practical. The two numeric abbreviations that are still in most common use (73 and 88) originated naturally and were formalized for the first time in the "92 Code", a list of 92 numeric abbreviations defined by Western Union in 1857 (a fair bit earlier than Nazis). See http://www.qsl.net/ae0q/73.htm for the first web reference that I spotted to this part of history. Many of these codes stuck even when radio communication switched mainly to voice.
73 and 88 are used in amateur radio to sign off a QSO [see below for abbreviations]. Normally an OM would use 73, a YL or XYL would use 88. Depending on circumstances, an OM could sometimes use 88 when signing off with a YL or XYL.
Standard telegraphic and ham (amateur radio) abbreviations:
73 Best regards
88 Love and kisses
QSO A contact (what we in computing would now call a session)
OM Old man -- any male
YL Young lady (unmarried)
XYL Ex-young lady (married)
Also used occasionally were
30 I have no more to send
Newspapers adopted this one as an end-of-copy symbol
33 Fondest regards
55 Best success
The original "92 Code" has evolved over time, but its basis still predates the Nazi Party by roughly half a century. An example of recent evolotion is adoption of 161, (73 + 88) to mean "Best regards to you and your wife".
Some additional information about telegraphy is available at http://www.ac6v.com/morseaids.htm#CW
There undoubtedly are other meanings already in use for 88, but my first try at a Google search failed to turn up any association with "Heil Hitler". A more likely new meaning in pop culture is to represent Hip Hop (see www.88hiphop.com "Bringing hiphop to the information highway" [emblem: Interstate 88]).
The only political group that I spotted on a limited search was one in the United Kingdom called Charter88, probably named for the year of its founding. Its charter (http://www.charter88.org.uk/politics/charter88.html) sounds like it could be a platform for either of the US's main political parties, Democratic or Republican. Its charter might lean slightly toward Libertarian ideals, but it takes a much more moderate advocacy than our Libertarian Party.
It seems to me that suppression of "88" is inappropriate. To most people, and particularly to amateur radio operators, it simply has a totally different meaning than what was just ascribed to it in the news.
Even if 88 were to be clearly only a neo-Nazi symbol I'd still not object to it, all of us have a Constitutional right to freedom of expression. This would then fit exactly the quote generally attributed to Voltaire: "I disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
