Was the CB radio craze a little silly? That’s a big 10-4

Today’s question: How did the call letters 10-4, 10-19, etc. get started and how did they determine what they stood for? What you are asking about are not called call letters. They are known as 10 codes and are used by most police departments and people of Citizens Band — CB — radios. (Remember some years ago when CBs were a big deal and a lot of people who had no real need for them were having them installed in their vehicles just because it was cool to say stuff like, “That’s a big 10-4, little buddy”? That was pretty silly.)

The first glossary of 10-codes was issued by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials in 1940. The idea was to cut the use of chatter on police radios and to add some level of privacy to the transmissions.

The same organization updated and expanded the 10-code list in 1974 to try to standardize them a bit.

There is, however, no single set of 10-codes. The meanings may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some agencies don’t them at all, and some use an 11-code. Amateur ham radio operators use a Q code base on Morse Code.

When waiting in line to pay at the grocery store I prefer to stand at the opening to two (or more) lines and wait for one to open up before standing next to the conveyor belt. People often come up behind me and ask which line I am in.

Why can’t they wait their turn behind me?

Well, I guess you can do whatever you want, but I think you should just pick on line or another.