Can we start us a CB chat?  A mighty convoy of conversation?  Come back.

*DJA*

Only a few basics
Of all CB (Citizen's Broadcast) channels, 19 was used most, not sure how that came to be.  Always called "one-nine)
Breaker: Hello, ahoy, now here this ("Breaker one-nine")
10-4: Yes, correct, will do
Handle: CB nickname
20: location (as in "What's your 20?")
Smokey: state police officer
Local yokel: county or municipal police officer
Pictures: police radar
(eg "There's a smokey taking pictures down at I-70 exit 42")
Beaver: a woman (well, that's trucker culture for ya)
10-36: time (as in "breaker one-nine for the ten thirty-six")

Anyone have more CB lingo to share? :)

I don't remember much about the lingo as I was very young when my parents were into CBing.  We used to have vests that had patches all over them that we would wear to the CB Jamborees.  I loved going.  I'd go to the different booths and look at all the patches, pins, etc.  They would also have raffles for various prizes.  I won a "big girl" bicycle once.  My dad's handle was Adam 12, my mom's was Sugarfoot and mine was Lil' Sweetheart.  This was before my brother came along in '79, so unfortunately, he's the only one in the family without a handle.  

One word...CONVOY!!!


Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck. You gotta copy on me, Pig Pen, c'mon? Ah, yeah, 10-4, Pig Pen, fer shure, fer shure. By golly, it's clean clear to Flag Town, c'mon. Yeah, that's a big 10-4 there, Pig Pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy...

Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"And I'm about to put the hammer down."


'Cause we got a little convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a little convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!



Ah, breaker, Pig Pen, this here's the Duck. And, you wanna back off them hogs? Yeah, 10-4, 'bout five mile or so. Ten, roger. Them hogs is gettin' in-tense up here.

By the time we got into Tulsa Town,
We had eighty-five trucks in all.
But they's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf,
And them bears was wall-to-wall.
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper;
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, "Callin' all trucks, this here's the Duck.
"We about to go a-huntin' bear."


'Cause we got a great big convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a great big convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!



Ah, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that, Pig Pen? Negatory, Pig Pen; you're still too close. Yeah, them hogs is startin' to close up my sinuses. Mercy sakes, you better back off another ten.

Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.
We tore up all of our swindle sheets,
And left 'em settin' on the scales.
By the time we hit that Chi-town,
Them bears was a-gettin' smart:
They'd brought up some reinforcements
From the Illinoise National Guard.
There's armored cars, and tanks, and jeeps,
And rigs of ev'ry size.
Yeah, them chicken coops was full'a bears
And choppers filled the skies.
Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
An' eleven long-haired Friends a' Jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus.



Ah, Rubber Duck to Sodbuster, come over. Yeah, 10-4, Sodbuster? Lissen, you wanna put that micra-bus right behind that suicide jockey? Yeah, he's haulin' dynamite, and he needs all the help he can get.

Well, we laid a strip for the Jersey shore
And prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didn't have a dog-goned dime.
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"We just ain't a-gonna pay no toll."
So we crashed the gate doing ninety-eight
I says "Let them truckers roll, 10-4."


'Cause we got a mighty convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a mighty convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.


Convoy! Ah, 10-4, Pig Pen, what's your twenty?
Convoy! OMAHA? Well, they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer shure. Well, mercy
Convoy! sakes, good buddy, we gonna back on outta here, so keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your...
Convoy! tail. We'll catch you on the flip-flop. This here's the Rubber Duck on the side.
Convoy! We gone. 'Bye,'bye.

AH yes, the CB radio. My brother was really "into" it. It was basically the "chat room" or the 70s. I only remember a bit of the lingo.

Smokey (or Smokey the Bear)-state police.
10-20-location.
Handle-the name you used.
(my personal favorite) Pregnant Rollerskate-VW bug.
Eye in the Sky-Police radar helicopter.
"You got your ears on?"-Are you there?
Flip-flop-the return trip.
Hammer-the accelerator.

I know there is A LOT more but that is all I can think of right now.



Cat

thank you cat, bj, maxsmart and "lil' sweetheart" (how cute!)

i'd forgotten about "eye in the sky."  that's a good one.  and the "pregnant rollerskate" was one of my faves, too, cat.

i like how even the "friends a jesus" got in on the convoy action.  thanks for listing the lyrics, bj.

well, i'm puttin' down the hammer.  i'm on the move and i'll catch y'all on the flip flop.  

10-4 good buddies!

My handle was "Hot Wheels," my dad alternated between "The Jack of Diamonds" and "The Jailbird."  My grandfather was "The Sidepocket," and my teenage sister dubbed herself "The Space Chick." :D

There was a code of CB etiquette, like you weren't supposed to use profanity and so forth, but I was exposed to some racy trucker talk.  One exchange sticks in my mind:

Woman: Breaker 1-9 for the 10-36.
Trucker: Hickory dickory dock, go buy a clock!
Woman: F**k you!!
Trucker: Hey, beaver, yer not allowed to swear on da CB!
Woman: You p*ssed me off, and when someone p*sses me off, I say f**k you, so F**K you!!!
;D :-/ :-X

Is it just me, or did the f-u thing pack more of a punch in the '70s?

okay...i'm confused.*  why did she get so pissed off at "hickory dickory dock, go buy a clock?"

* i worked late and my brain isn't fully functioning...

DJA

here's more:
DISCO LIGHTS-cop car with lights and sirens going

Local Yokel-local cops

Chicken Coop-Weigh station for trucks

Smokey-State Police

Bear In The Air-police helicopter with radar

Keep The Shiny Side Up and the Greasy side down-stay safe

What's your 20-where are you located

Shakyside-West Coast

Dirtyside-East Coast(usually referring to NJ and NYC)

10-100-rest room break

I think it's cool how the Internet,like CB radio,has its own language and culture. We've gone from "10-4" to "LOL" in only 15 some years!

oh...okay, i get it.  she asked for the time and he said "go buy a clock..."

like, duh!

okay, as i type this, i'm getting a topic reply notification...someone's probably writing to educate me!

slow on the uptake, i am.

Hay, DJ, that's my favorite part too!

Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
An' eleven long-haired Friends a' Jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus :D

Quoting:

i like how even the "friends a jesus" got in on the convoy action.  thanks for listing the lyrics, bj.


End Quote

that photo of Alice on the CB is precious!

my cousin had a rig on his truck, but we weren't allowed to touch it.  i remember riding with him and begging him to get on and talk to other truckers, but he never would converse much.  it drove me nuts, because i wanted to get on and talk!  

i guess that's why i started this CB chat here, good buddies!

Don't forget the slang term "Brown Wrapper" which meant an unmarked Police Car.  A "Cherry Top" was a marked Police car with the red light on top.

The CB craze probably took off mainly because, at the same time, the Nationwide 55 mile-per-hour speed limit was put into effect, and CB communications were a way for people to drive over the limit, yet know where the smokeys were at.

Catch you on the flip-flop.  ;D

I have three CB radios (one AM mobile and two sideband base models), and know of several people who use CB for various reasons.

Monitoring the logging roads so they know when it is safe to pass and who to follow.

A couple of guys at work use theirs when they go off roading with the local Jeep club.  I usually lend one of them my mobile radio and mag mount antenna every other weekend.  

Virtually all the commercial fishermen here on the Canadian west coast are CB capable.

I know of another guy who had a large beam antenna on a 20 metre tower and uses sideband to run skip across Canada, the USA, and Australia.

And I have even heard the free-banders as well, although I don't approve of them, I have used them as propagation indicators.  There are some NASA Space Shuttle recovery comms in that frequency region.

Ch.14 is a common chat channel.  Ch.35 and up is usually sideband territory.  Naturally, ch.9 for emergency calling.  And ch.1 and 6 are frequently monitored by the truckers.  I'm told on the TransCanada Highway (#1) ch.1 is the place to hang out.

You know what I liked?  Those roger*beep mic's.  It made it sound like you were operating at NASA.  :D  I thought the echo mic's were annoying, but I guess you could have fun with them.  :)