By Dave Jensen, W7DGJ

After writing about Alfred Vail (co-developer of the Morse code) and what should have perhaps have been more accurately called "Vail Code," I wanted to know more about the CW shortcuts we use as amateurs and where some of these might have originated. In researching the topic of "code shorthand" for this article, I came across an interesting history of how the early telegraphers used numbers and short names for common words.

When I came back to radio after a long absence, I was pleasantly surprised that my knowledge of the code had not disappeared. It had apparently ingrained itself in my subconscious. While some say that CW is essentially like learning another language, I took three years of Latin at about the same time as I was learning Morse Code and can tell you that's not true. While I remember the code, I don't remember a darn thing from my Latin classes except "E pluribus unum."

But the one thing that really surprised me upon coming back to the code was how much the operators counted on shortcut language, which wasn't the case when I was younger. Clearly, our code had been affected by today's use of texting and short form expressions gleaned from the use of cell phones.

History shows us that the same thing happened to the International Morse Code as it grew in usage across millions of miles of telegraph wire strung up around the world. Here are some examples:

The Phillips Code

It is remarkable how much of our history as radio enthusiasts comes from the early days of telegraphy. As the use of the telegraph grew more and more popular in the latter half of the 1800's, with the average person using it to communicate important news to family across what were often great distances, it was determined by telegraphers that they could speed up transmissions (and actually save their customers some pennies?) by shortening those common words that they were using on a regular basis. At first, this was just a few operators who strung together words like HV for "have" or LV for "love." But the practice caught on.

In 1879 these short-form telegraph terms were made much more formal by the publication of a small book called "The Phillips Code."  It was at this time that the practice of shorthand for code senders became much more formalized. Every operator had a copy of this book which contained a couple of thousand short form abbreviations . . .  they used it to speed up transmissions by as much as 35-40%. I would imagine this also resulted in a cost savings for the sender, but that wasn't the intent behind the code.

Instead, the intent was entirely centered on speed of sending. The author, Walter Polk Phillips (photo, left) began his career in telegraphy by being hired at age 15 as a messenger boy for the American Telegraph and Telephone Company. Within a few years he had worked himself up the ladder and into a position as one of AT&T's fastest telegraph operators. He was still under 20 years old when he became known as a "fist to be reckoned with."

Walter won a number of telegraphy contests; in one of these he accurately (100%) captured more than 2,700 words in an hour (45 WPM for a straight hour). As a part of his recognition, Samuel Morse sent him a personal letter and a gift. While the congratulations from Morse was nice to earn, the real driver for Walter Phillips was apparently the speed at which he could send and copy. He was always working to improve his performance, and later -- when he entered the world of journalism -- he kept up his skills and started writing the code book which would bear his name. 

In promoting the publication of the book, the author described the savings in this way: Referring to bandwidth of the wire, he exclaimed that there would be "A saving of wire space of approximately 33 and 1/3 percent when the Phillips code is used in its entirety. This figure frequently runs considerably higher, depending upon the nature of the text. An example is, MUST HAVE AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER TO OUR TELEGRAM OF YESTERDAY, which in Phillips code is expressed as MST HV IMT AR TO OU TGM O YA." The example given by the author would represent a 49% decrease in characters with an appropriate savings to the user and a substantial improvement in the number of messages that could be sent through the "bandwidth" of the wire.

Use this little tool from the University of Houston to convert any sentence you'd like into Phillips Code and see what those telegraphers were doing 150 years ago. 

One interesting fact about this Phillips code is that two very well-known abbreviations in use today came out of Walter's book. For one, POTUS, for "President of the United States." Also, SCOTUS, for "Supreme Court of the United States."

Mr. Orrin S. Wood, one of Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail's first employees, published a Wood's list of numerical codes even before Phillips brought out his code book. He had become quite well known himself as a telegraph operator after assisting Morse and Vail build the Washington-Baltimore line which was so important to the success of Morse's commitment from the US Government. His numerical codes were used by the Associated Press and others, until the Phillips code made an even bigger dent in the world of shortcuts and abbreviations.

In the years following the rollout of the Phillips code, there were others who modified or extended the Phillips code to as much as double the size. Later, these versions added unique elements to the mix of shortcut words, for government, for Wall Street, and for sporting results. 

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The 92 Code

The 92 code was a precursor to the Phillips Code, and it was used by the Associated Press and other professional outlets for transmitting news dispatches. Many of the original 92 codes have fallen out of use but a few of them have remained in use over the years. As a young guy studying journalism at Ohio University, I remember that important teletype messages coming in over the wire always had a "30" to show the end of the message -- that was one of the 92 codes. As an aside, one day I received the message that four students had been shot on the campus of Kent State University, right up the road from me. The teletype announced the importance of that story by ringing the teletype bells so that no one could miss it. 

Other 92 codes, like "73" (Best Regards) and "88" (Love and kisses), are still commonly used in amateur radio communication, although I always feel very uncomfortable getting an 88 in a QSO when QRZ shows a guy with a grizzled beard and his hunting dog by his side. 

Today's Texting Shortcuts -- Will They Become our Code Shortcuts of Tomorrow?

The first graphic above shows an example of some of the texting shortcuts in use by those who are actively using the texting app on their phones, and they are visible as well in all the social media outlets. Some of these I already hear on the air or at least understand (LOL, CU, OMG, etc.) but many others I had to ask my son about. (Did you know that ROFL means "rolling on floor laughing"? I certainly didn't but my son uses it all the time.)

While I'm not certain when or if we'll ever see ROFL and some of the more arcane shortcuts, it's clear that history repeats itself and that there's a whole new set of communication shortcuts headed our way and that it will -- someday soon -- work its way into the Amateur Radio hobby as more young people join the CW fraternity and replace our old timers.

If you want to see what your kids are saying, check out the texting dictionary at this address.

73 for now,   Dave Jensen W7DGJ

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