Origin of Hi Hi
 

On May 10, 6:20 pm, AF6AY wrote:


Why is the (supposed) laugh on voice expressed as "HI HI."

It is the telegraphic laugh.
"hi hi" is the Morse equivalent of a laugh as in Morse it sounds like
someone chuckling ("hehhehhehheh hehheh"). That is ditditditdit dit
it --- or dot dot dot dot dot dot. You really have to listen to it sent
in Morse to appreciate its laugh like sound. It is most commonly used in CW
(Morse Code), but has carried over to voice as well. Many CW expressions
have carried over to voice -- such as 73 (Best Regards) and 88 (love and
Kisses), etc. The origin probably dates back before radio to the telegraph
days. And since Hams used Morse long before voice became practical-- the
sound of the Morse characters HI HI was used to resemble a laugh sound. In
some sense it is equivalent of a smiley. It's onomatopoeic -- that is the
naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated
with it (as buzz, hiss) The definitive answer might be found in the "Dodge's
The Telegraph Instructor Manual" circa 1850 to 1900..So that is my best
guess -- based on what old time telegraphers have told me.

Another use of HI HI is sending a greeting to a fellow Ham when vehicles
pass -- four short horn beeps followed by two short horn beeps. Since many
Hams have Ham License plates -- a fellow Ham is easily spotted as well as
the seeing the mobile antennas.

Lamont

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

K?HB wrote on Fri 11 May 2007 03:32:

On May 10, 6:20 pm, AF6AY wrote:

Why is the (supposed) laugh on voice expressed as "HI HI."

For the same reason that hams give "59" signal reports instead of
saying "you're loud and clear", for the same reason that they say
"73" instead of "best wishes", and for the same reason that they say
"QSL" instead of "I got that".

I disagree a bit there, having listened to lots of voice
"conversations" and compared them to in-person conversations
without radios. The majority of amateur radio activity is done
solo by a ham using voice, CW, RTTY, data, etc. As such,
many just don't have the direct personal coupling to others
unless they are personal friends. A result of that is the flat,
rather emotionless speech patterns one can hear. They seem
to be talking to other radios, not other human beings.

Other radios don't laugh or cry or express emotions. People do
that. Some people in amateur radio want to emulate the
professionals and assume that pros talk only in flat, emotion-
less manner. That's not always the case when you get beyond
the "data reporting" communications kind of things on
commercial radio. Ahem, I've already been "chewed out" by
an unidentified Radio Kop on HF for daring to express some
slight emotion in my voice. shrug

There seems to be a difference in speech patterns in ham bands
above 30 MHz versus those below. The VHF and up folk tend to
sound more human and have been heard to actually express a
tiny bit of emotion! :-) Maybe that's just here in the southwest;
I haven't taken any scanner with me on cross-country (2K mile)
auto trips in the USA.

These, and "hi hi", are carryovers of
CW "shorthand" and have survived as a natural sort of "insiders
lingo".

Yes, yes, I think I know some of that... :-) I've already adapted
to several kinds of different radio service lingo. My only difficulty
on any of those was at around 2000 feet in a two-place single
engine aircraft with the (bad alternate) instructor hollering in my
right ear on flying the aircraft properly. "Clik, clik," the pilot's
"roger" using the PTT switch...which I "wasn't supposed to know"
according to the instructor. :-)

As a newer ham you may find them unnatural or awkward to
use, and the good news is that everyone will still be happy to snag
your prefix in WPX, even if you don't say TKS ES GL OM HI HI..

TNX, FB OM and roger that. :-) When I figure out how to
pronounce those capitalized letters, I'll use them. HI HI. :-)

Regards, Len AF6AY

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

On Thu, 10 May 2007 08:26:49 -0400, Ivor Jones wrote:

Word meanings sometimes change over time. Like the word
"handle"....

Now that one really *does* irritate me. A handle is for opening a door. I
have a *name*, ok..?!

Good morning, Ivor.

What in the world is the benefit of getting irritated over something as
innocuous as that?

I have to say that if that's the worst thing I have to get irritated
about, I am a very lucky man indeed.

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

On May 12, 5:18?am, "Rick (W-A-one-R-K-T)"
wrote:
On Thu, 10 May 2007 08:26:49 -0400, Ivor Jones wrote:
Word meanings sometimes change over time. Like the word
"handle"....

Now that one really *does* irritate me. A handle is for opening a door. I
have a *name*, ok..?!

Good morning, Ivor.

What in the world is the benefit of getting irritated over something as
innocuous as that?

An anonymous person wrote long ago:

"Mankind invented language to satisfy his need to complain..."

:-)

73, Len AF6AY

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

"Rick (W-A-one-R-K-T)" wrote in
message
On Thu, 10 May 2007 08:26:49 -0400, Ivor Jones wrote:

Word meanings sometimes change over time. Like the
word "handle"....

Now that one really *does* irritate me. A handle is for
opening a door. I have a *name*, ok..?!

Good morning, Ivor.

What in the world is the benefit of getting irritated
over something as innocuous as that?

Who knows..? It wasn't exactly a conscious decision..! Is there ever a
benefit to being irritated..? I honestly don't know why it annoys me, it
just does. Isn't there any silly little thing that annoys you..?

I have to say that if that's the worst thing I have to
get irritated about, I am a very lucky man indeed.

Well if it *is* the worst thing you have to get irritated about, you
certainly are :-)

73 Ivor G6URP

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

I think "handle" and "name" have different meanings.

"Handle" refers to a person's "radio name" or identification on the radio
which can be different from his/her actual name. Nowadays, though, the two
are almost always the same. But the term "handle" initially had that
specific meaning; hence the unique word to describe it.

George, K6GW


"Ivor Jones" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
ps.com

[snip]

Word meanings sometimes change over time. Like the word
"handle"....

Now that one really *does* irritate me. A handle is for opening a door. I
have a *name*, ok..?!

73 Ivor G6URP

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

On Sat, 12 May 2007 18:07:27 -0400, George wrote:

I think "handle" and "name" have different meanings.

"Handle" refers to a person's "radio name" or identification on the radio
which can be different from his/her actual name. Nowadays, though, the two
are almost always the same. But the term "handle" initially had that
specific meaning; hence the unique word to describe it.

Good evening, George.

I would have to disagree. Since 1963 when I was first licensed, "handle"
and "name" have always meant the same thing. CB'ers took to using
"handle" to mean "radio name", but hams ... except for those that came
from originally being CB'ers ... always used "handle" to mean "name".

Rick (my name AND my handle)

How Popular Is/Was Amateur Radio
 

wrote in message
...
RDWeaver wrote:

But something apparently has gone horribly wrong. Your numbers
indicate that in the past 7 years we have lost all the gains of the
90's and are apparently sliding backwards into the 1980's hams-per-
Americans ratios.

This is to be expected, the big intake of the 1950s is now dying off.

--
g4jci




Not to mention the spread of the internet. Here we are typing instead of
talking on the radio.

Ed, NM2K