Just about every trade and profession has its own set of idioms. Butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, carpenters, welders, hay-rakers – they all have their special words and phrases that only those in-the-know, know.
Of all the varied groups of American workers, perhaps none has forced its strange language onto the public more than those educated and employed in any of the myriad aspects of computer technology. Although most of us may not know the meaning of all the words, we hear them daily, if not hourly: RAM, DRAM, ROM, bit, byte, megabyte, gigabyte, BIOS, OS, WYSIWYG, pixel, add infinitum, ad nauseum.
Unlike a computer systems administrator, one does not need a degree in engineering to qualify as a truck driver. Nonetheless, trucking also has its jargon. See if you can find meaning or a twisted thread of logic in the following narrative:
Now that Nickel City is in my rear view mirror, I can turn south and head for Smoke City and then Cigar. I hope that when I empty out there, I’ll flip toward Beantown and then put it into the wind to the house. Now that the double-nickel is history (except in the Buckeye), I should make good time. The good lord willing and if the four-wheelers stay out of my way (10-33s take up so much time, what with all the paper work, and all) I should be back at the house in a week or so.
My load is light; therefore if I keep my comic book current I shouldn’t have to worry about chicken coops or creeper cops. As I pull from the granny-lane to the hammer-lane to pass a reefer and a skateboard, I see a bear making a U-turn in the comedian.
A quick glance at my speedometer says I’m OK, but still, the bear shoots by me with his pedal to the metal and his bubble gum machine working overtime. As his disco lights fade into the distance, I flip on the cruise control and settle in for some serious trucking.
Not long into the trip, a voice on the CB hails me. Turns out to be an old co-worker from the Bikini. We drop down to Jack Daniels to have some privacy only to find several ongoing conversations there, too. We continue down to Harley where the airwaves are quiet except for an occasional skip surfer.
After catching up with old times, I give my old friend 73rds and return to Sesame Street to copy the mail. After listening to a couple of 40-year-old infants trying to out-curse each other (whatever happened to originality), I increase the squelch until I am again in quiet mode.
In the dark? Allow me to give the English meanings, beginning with paragraph one:
• Nickel City is Buffalo, N.Y. There is a buffalo on some nickels.
• Smoke City refers to Birmingham, Ala., famous for its many smokestacks.
• Cigar is Tampa, Fla., where many Cuban expatriates hand-roll cigars.
• To Empty Out is, as the phrase implies, to finally have an empty trailer ready for another load.
• To Flip is to change direction toward your point of origin.
• Bean Town is – shame on you if I have to tell you this – Boston.
• Putting it in the winds – to make all due haste.
• The House is always home and should not to be confused with “a house,” which can refer to any building.
• Double nickel is a 55 mph speed limit.
• Four-wheelers are passenger vehicles.
And, 10-33 is 10-code for a traffic accident.
Paragraph two:
• Comic book refers to a truck driver’s logbook, which more often than not reflects reality as much as a Daffy Duck cartoon
• Chicken coops are weigh stations where Department of Transportation enforcement officers wait to pounce upon any unprepared trucker.
• Granny lane is the extreme right-hand lane of a multi-lane highway and the Hammer lane is the extreme left-hand lane.
• A reefer is a refrigeration unit, and a Skateboard usually refers to a flatbed trailer (trailer with no sides).
• Smokey (short for Smokey Bear) is a state police officer. The name is derived from the fact that Smokey Bear and most state troopers wear similar hats. Smokey is not to be confused with county sheriffs, county mounties or city police, local yokels.
• Comedian is the median strip in a divided highway.
Paragraph three:
• Bubble gum machine is the set of emergency lights atop a police cruiser, which are also referred to as Disco lights.
Paragraph four:
• CB is a citizen’s band radio that most every trucker has mounted somewhere within easy reach.
• Bikini is Florida.
• Jack Daniels is Old Number 7 and is thus used to refer to channel 7 on the CB.
• Likewise, Harley is short for Harley Davidson, the No. 1 motorcycle in any truckers’ opinion, and thus used to refer to channel one.
• Skip Surfer requires a more detailed explanation. By law, a CB radio is limited to five watts of transmitting power, thus limiting the effective sending and receiving distance to a maximum of a few miles. However, when the atmospheric conditions are ideal, it is possible to have the weak CB signal bounce off the atmosphere and back to Earth, thus greatly increasing its range. Some people, with nothing else to do, will sit for hours and see how far they can “get out.” Under such conditions, it is not unusual to have conversations between Maine and Alabama.
Paragraph five:
• 73rds is pure jargon the definition of which can be likened to the Hebrew, Shalom – peace, health, good fortune, have a good day, etc.
• Sesame Street is a children’s television show. It also refers to the usual juvenile behavior and language heard on CB channel 19, the truckers’ gathering place.
• Copying the mail refers to listening to ongoing CB conversations and Squelch is a control on the CB radio that further limits reception with the aim of removing unwanted white noise.
I hope you have enjoyed this little primer. Until next time, 73rds to you.
Guy Bourrie has been hauling on the highways for 20 years. He lives in Washington, Maine, and can be reached at redhaven@pivot.net.
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