88

[hal]

Ops   your right it is agent 99.

The 86 comes from the 10 code used by some police, 10-86 means
a drunk.

Also, looking over an phillips code I see it was used primarily by press 
telegraphers
not railroads.  I'm going to guess that the wire codes, of which 88 was 
one, is not part of the text codes used for press stores but instead as a 
chatter code used between telegraphers. There seems to have been an even 
older two digit procedural and chatter code used by the old sparkies
and (this is a far guess) Phillips may have picked 88 and other two digit 
codes from them.


At 09:18 PM 11/11/2002 -0600, you wrote:
> From one of the several Get Smart web sites:
>
>why "86?" why "99?"
>
>To 86 a guy is to stop serving him drinks, if you are a bartender, or, 
>alternately, to fit him for a pair of concrete galoshes, if you are a 
>"family man." Buck Henry told Barbara Feldon that he picked 99 because it 
>struck him as "a girl's number," and of course it's also the highest 
>double-digit integer available. It has been suggested that it was also the 
>closest they could get to "69" without incurring the wrath of the censors.
>
>......david
>
>On Monday, November 11, 2002, at 12:27 PM, hal wrote:
>
>>In my research I have seen HH used by Nazi era functionaries as a 
>>salutation in their memorandum and radiograms.  From what I have seen it 
>>was in common use
>>among party functionaries, the SS, civil administration and dedicated 
>>party men within
>>the armed forces.   It would be interesting to see if Nazi era brevity 
>>codebooks contained
>>"88" or its cut number equivalent, but, H is easy to send and may have
>>been favored by Nazi radiotelegraphists.   Back in the days of telegraph and
>>radio telegraph, two letter shorthand like this was not uncommon and stock
>>phrases were often shorted in various ways including to di- and trigraphs,
>>some of which continue to make
>>up radiotelegraph shorthand today. During the Nazi era Heil Hitler was 
>>just such as
>>stock phrase and was shortened to HH.  (You also see it many times as "HH!")
>>
>>The use of 88 as "love and kisses" probably dates back to the old
>>Phillips Code used by American railroad telegraphers, but, this is just a 
>>guess.
>>Its unclear if hate group use of 88 and the Nazi era telegraphy HH are 
>>related or
>>more likely the hate group invented it on their own. There's certainly no 
>>relationship
>>between it and 88 used in ham radio.   Remember Agent 88 from Get Smart?
>>
>>-H.
>>
>>http://www.wouldyoubelieve.com/
>>much more interesting
>>
>>
>>At 11:59 AM 11/11/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>>>  This is something hams should be aware of.
>>>What (if anything) to do, I have no idea.
>>>http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_88.asp
>>>                                         Sandy
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Tacos mailing list
>>>Tacos@amrad.org
>>>http://www.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Tacos mailing list
>>Tacos@amrad.org
>>http://www.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos