Cryptography and secret languages have always provided an ingenious way to share information that we’d rather remained hidden, and that’s never more true than in the case of CB radio jargon. Truckers, mischievous drivers, outlaws and home-based well-wishers have been colluding from time immemorial to sneak data across the airwaves; it may not be quite at the level of the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park, but the cult of ‘ten-four, good buddy’ has always been effective at keeping secrets within the right groups – if you’ve ever found yourself rolling a hot super chicken past a fox in the henhouse, then you’ll copy that.
CULTURE CLASH
In the same vein, car enthusiasts of a certain age share a particular clandestine shorthand when it comes to terms such as ‘cruise’, ‘modding’ and ‘Max Power’ – all of
