Walkie-talkie language incorporates many different styles into its language. For example, walkie-talkie chatter has picked up on both law enforcement and military codes, as well as the slang and lingo. It consists of mainly four components: ten-code, Morse code, the NATO phonetic alphabet, and CB slang.Ten-code is a component of walkie-talkie language taken from law enforcement. Although there are several dozen codes involved, from "use caution" (10-0) to "prison break" (10-98), most civilians or amateurs using walkie-talkie are most likely going to use only a few of the codes: "cannot receive you" (10-1), "receive you OK" (10-2), "stop transmitting" (10-3), "I acknowledge" (10-4), and "what's your location" (10-20). Most of the other ninety-five codes deal directly with police business. Another component of walkie-talkie language is Morse code. Morse code, developed before the telephone for long distance communication, is a series of dots and dashes. The benefit of Morse code is that it does not require words.The military and NATO phonetic alphabets are yet another part of walkie-talkie language. The purpose of the phonetic alphabets is to make it impossible to misunderstand words when they are spelled out using these alphabets. The NATO phonetic alphabet is the most common and well-known of the phonetic alphabets: A-Alfa, B-Bravo, C-Charlie, D-Delta, E-Echo, F-Foxtrot, G-Golf, H-Hotel, I-India, J-Juliet, K-Kilo, L-Lima, M-Mike, N-November, O-Oscar, P-Papa, Q-Quebec, R-Romeo, S-Sierra, T-Tango, U-Uniform, V-Victor, W-Whiskey, X-Xray, Y-Yankee, and Z-Zulu. Each word sounds nothing like any of the others, making it even more difficult to misunderstand.The last component is CB slang, which contains a veritable plethora of terms, upward of a hundred. Most of the terms are on the obscure side, but there are several that prove particularly useful. Among them are "Copy" which means "Understood," "Send" which means "I have received your initial call; pass on the rest of your message,"Out" which means "This is the end of my transmission," "Over" which means "This is the end of my transmission and a response is necessary," "Roger" which means "I have received your last transmission satisfactorily," "Wilco" which means "I understand and will comply," "Affirmative" which means "Yes," "Negative" which means "No," "Radio check" which means "How do you hear me?" and "Say Again" which means "Read back."Many factors contribute to walkie-talkie communication, among which is ten-code, Morse code, the NATO phonetic alphabet, and CB slang and procedure words.
