The slang itself is not only cyclical, but also geographical. Through time, certain terms are added or dropped as attitudes towards it changed. For example, in the early days of the CB radio, the term "Good buddy" was widely used.[2]
Nicknames or call signs given or adopted by CB radio users are known as "handles".[2][3] Many truck drivers will call each other "Hand,"[4] or by the name of the company for which they drive.[citation needed]
CB and its distinctive language started in the United States but was then exported to other countries including Mexico, Germany, and Canada.
List of terms
Law enforcement officers, equipment, and locations
Police vehicle, especially one with the older-style, dome-shaped red rotating/strobe light commonly mounted on the roof of police cars, which resembles a traditional "penny" gumball machine.
Hit/Hitting the jackpot
A motorist or trucker pulled over by law enforcement. Refers to the siren lights on top of a police cruiser, resembling the bright lights on a casino slot machine.
Honey bear
A more endearing term for a female police officer.
A large number of police vehicles, especially when on a chase.
Trucks and other vehicles
Term
Description
18/18 wheeler
A truck with a total of 18 tire/wheels. It can also be used for any truck usually with a fifth-wheel hitch and a semi-trailer even if the vehicle doesn't have dual wheels, or tandem axles.
Aircraft carrier
Tractor/trailer carrying a disassembled aircraft, helicopter or a small plane.
Angry kangaroo
A truck with one (or both) of its headlights out.
Big truck
Generally, a truck able to pull a semi-trailer, usually with the trailer and not a bob-tail. It can mean any vehicle Class 7 or heavier.
A Mackroad tractor, noted for its trademark bulldog hood ornament (origin in World War I when British soldiers called the Mack AC "The Bulldog", giving the name and trademark hood ornament to Mack).
A dressed up and fancy truck. Usually means extra chrome, wide front bumper, extra light, etc. Can also mean a fast truck. Does not mean a truck hauling chickens.
Coal bucket
Truck with a trailer for hauling coal, especially an end-dump trailer.
Container
An intermodal shipping container. Refers to a cargo container that goes overseas, get loaded onto a train, or get placed on a truck chassis.
A highway department truck for spreading ice melting chemicals on the road, traditionally salt.
Scanny
A Scania AB truck. There are around 500 in the United States[clarification needed]. It is very rare, so it is used only in social media (truck pages in Facebook, YouTube, etc.).
Chicago, Illinois (now widely used among the general public).
Ten-codes and other popular terms
Term
Description
4-10
A reversal of the ten code "10-4," when asking if someone agrees with something said or if one's transmission was received. ("That was a nasty wreck. Four-ten?")
Last transmission not received; repeat your last transmission.
10-10
CB user will cease broadcasting but will continue to listen. ("I'm 10-10 on the side.")
10-20
Denotes location, as in identifying one's location ("My 20 is on Main Street and First"), asking the receiver what their current location or immediate destination is ("What's your 20?"), or inquiring about the location of a third person ("OK, people, I need a 20 on Little Timmy and fast").
10-32
Radio check or test.
10-33
Emergency traffic, clear the channel. CB code for Mayday for trucks and police cars.
3s and 8s
Well wishes to a fellow driver. Borrowed from amateur radio telegraphy codes "73" (best regards) and "88" (hugs and kisses).
10-36
The correct time ("Can I get a 10-36?").
10-41
Driver is signing on or changed the channel on their radio.
10-42
An accident on the road.
10 in the wind
Listening to the CB while driving (also known as "10-10 in the wind").
10-70
A fire.
10-77/10-double-7
No or negative, often said with intensity.
10-100
Restroom break.
10-200
Police needed at ________. (In the trucking-themed movie Smokey and the Bandit, a character jokingly plays off this usage, saying that 10-100 is better than 10-200, meaning that 10-100 was peeing and 10-200 was doing a #2).
A user who talks constantly and seldom listens (comic reference to an alligator - all mouth and no ears). Someone who will not shut up. Frequently refers to a powerful local base station transmitting to mobile CBers, often on channel 19. ("Bucket mouth"/"Linear lungs," but a base station rather than a mobile. Sometimes, though rarely, used to refer to a very loud mobile user.
Aye-firmative
Variant of "Affirmative."
Back Door
The rearmost vehicle driver in a group that watches for police officers approaching from behind and gives warning to the others in the group to slow down when speeding (see also "Front Door" and "Rocking Chair").
Back it down
Reduce driving speed to the speed limit.
Back row/Party row
An area of a truck stop, generally located in the back of the property, where prostitutes congregate.
Informing other CB users that you would like to start a transmission on a channel. May be followed by either the channel number, indicating that anyone may acknowledge (e.g., "Breaker One-niner" refers to channel 19, the most widely used among truck drivers), or by a specific "handle", which is requesting a particular individual to respond.[6]
Bucket mouth/Linear lungs
Someone swearing on CB/Someone who will not shut up. Similar to "Alligator Station", but usually refers to a mobile user rather than a base station.
CB Rambo
A radio user who brags about his fighting prowess.
The lights on a chicken truck, or marker lights in excess of what the law requires.
Choke and puke
A truck stop restaurant, especially one known for its low quality food.
Comedian
The median or central reservation of a highway. As in, "A bear taking pictures from the comedian."
Copy that/Copy
Acknowledgement, meaning "I heard you" or "I understand."
Cotton choppers
Term for a group of people seen as bothersome or annoying. Occasionally used in a friendly fashion as a rough term of endearment to refer to others. Sometimes used to refer to other people in general, especially those who do not use CB radio.
Cotton-pickin'
Substitution for foul language (now widely used among the general public).
Crotch rocket
A very fast motorcycle (now widely used among the general public).
Do a flip
Turn around and go the opposite direction. As in, "That county mountie did a flip when the bear bait went by in the hammer lane."
Double-nickels
A 55 mph speed zone.
Drain the dragon/The double D
Comic reference for a restroom call.
Driver
Term for someone who drives a truck, not to refer to anyone in other vehicles.
The inside lane (left most lane) in either direction of an eight-lane highway.
Fighter pilot
An erratic driver who changes lanes often.
Fingerprint
The driver has to load, or more commonly, unload the trailer. That is, to put his fingerprints on all the boxes.
Flip-flop
Used by truckers to refer to the return trip or traveling back the other way, especially when referring to going home on an outbound run.
Four/foe
Variant of "10-4", dropping the 10. (e.g. "Yeah, four", "Foe", or "Yeah, foe").
Flag in five-mile wind
A 45 mph speed zone.
Flying the coop
Going though a weigh station without stopping and triggering a port runner. This type of activity is illegal and reckless driving and can result in an arrest.
A direction finding activity using cars and vans fitted with CB radios. The objective of this activity is to use a signal strength meter to triangulate or otherwise locate a hidden transmitter, or "fox."
Front Door
The leading vehicle driver in a group that watches for police officers approaching from the front or officers watching oncoming traffic from the side of the road. This driver gives warning to the others in the group to slow down when speeding. See also "Back Door" and "Rocking Chair."
A large piece of tire on the road. From a distance it can resemble an alligator sunning on the road.
#handle, Got your ears on?/Anybody got their ears on?
Asking if a specific person or if anyone is listening to a given channel.[8]
Green stamp(s)
Cash money (refers to S&H Green Stamps). When used in the singular form, can also refer to a toll road, such as the New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Turnpikes which are all denoted by green route markers. Occasionally refers to a speeding ticket.
In the 1970s, this was the stereotypical term for a friend or acquaintance on the CB airwaves.[9][10][6]
Good numbers
Well wishes to a fellow driver.
Hand
Person, especially a working person like a hired hand. Sometimes used to distinguish a between a driver and one who isn't ("I talked to a hand who wants to become a driver").
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.[6]
Hammer
The gas pedal or accelerator.
Hammer down
Driving at high speed - or trying to with the gas pedal fully depressed. ("He's got the hammer down!", "I put the hammer down, but this is as fast as it goes."; now used among the general public).
Hammer lane
The passing lane or the "fast lane". (E.g., "Don't let smokey see you camping out in the hammer lane, buddy").
Hot mic
A CB user who monopolizes a radio channel by talking in excess.
Hundred-mile coffee
Very strong coffee.
Jabber/Jabbering idiot/Babble/Babbling idiot
A CB user transmitting in a foreign language.
Keep the left door closed
Make time by not stopping.
Kicker/Footwarmer
A linear amplifier used to illegally increase CB transmit power. A favorite tool of "Alligator Stations," "Bucket Mouths" and "Linear Lungs." Frowned upon by most users.
Lot lizard
A prostitute in a rest area or the parking area of a truck stop.
Mud Duck
A cb user that has a weak signal and they keep trying to talk despite the fact that no one can understand them.
A rest area, especially one with a reputation for prostitution. Can also be used to describe large grassy medians on highways, e.g. "There's a smokey doing flip flops around the pickle park."
Reading the mail
Operator is listening but not actively transmitting.
Rocking Chair
The vehicle(s) in a group positioned between the front door and back door drivers. Called the rocking chair because drivers in that position of the group can relax while speeding because the front door and back door drivers are watching for the police (See "Front Door" and "Back Door").
Rubbernecking/ Rubbernecks/ Rubberneckers
Looking at something on the side of the road, causing a backup. / People slowing down to look at something, particularly an accident.
Sandbagging
Listening to CB conversation without participating, despite having the capability of speaking. This is not the same as listening in using a simple receiver, as the person sandbagging can transmit using the two-way radio, but chooses not to.[11][12] It is for the purpose of monitoring CB users for entertainment or for gathering information about the actions of a particular user. Often, CB users "sandbag" to listen to others' responses to their previous input to a conversation, sometimes referred to as "reading the mail."[13]
Seat cover
An attractive woman in a vehicle, especially one who is scantily-clad or wearing sexy clothing.
Semi-pro
Pickup truck drivers congregating with truckers.
Thick stuff
Bad weather, preferably fog caused by rain or heavy snow.
CB users sometimes migrate to "out of band" channels/frequencies, most famously 27.555 MHz, referred to as "Triple Nickel." 27.555 MHz is well above the 40 channel CB standard allowing for a more private conversation and enhanced radio communications. Modified equipment is usually required to access this frequency.
Turn and burn
To return from a destination back to the original starting point of a trip, especially in a hurry and/or non-stop so as not to lose time.
Turtle race
Two trucks side by side, one trying to pass the other, but both have speed governors.
Suicide jockey
A driver who is hauling dangerous goods, such as explosives.
Wall Paper
A traffic citation/ticket (especially a speeding ticket).
Wall to wall and treetop tall
An exceptionally clear and strong signal/transmission.
^ abcdHoward Jackson, Etienne Zé Amvela (January 2000), "CB talk", Words, meaning and vocabulary: an introduction to modern English lexicology, A&C Black, ISBN9780826460967
