QX [Was: Bravo Zulu]

On Sun, 19 Jan 2003 12:59:04 +0100 "K.H.Ranitzsch" 
<KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:

> From: "Aaron Teske" <mithramuse@njaccess.com>
>> Having recently read the Lensman books, is Smith's use of "QX" based 
on real codes, made up from something like the above, or just 
wholly invented? It is pretty obvious what it *means* but I'm curious 
if anyone has any insight as to whether it really "came from" 
someplace. <<

> Not sure if it applies here, but many old abbreviations, especially 
with odd letters, are from amateur wireless Morse practice. <

Not so amateur... many odd-looking abbreviation still in use come from 
standard Morse codes that were used to reduce the amount of 
transmission time needed to ask FAQ's, particularly with the then state 
of the art in long-distance and airborne radios -- e.g., QNH and QFE 
from air navigation. It's a heck of a lot quicker to send QFE to a 
ground station than "What is the current ground-level air pressure?", 
and equally the reply "QFE 2994" is a lot quicker and easier to 
comprehend than a full sentence. We have better radios these days, so 
Morse is a dying art, but the codes are still used.

Getting back to Smith, I always thought that QX was a sneaky way of 
showing how language evolves over time. Kim Kinnison and co. use it 
where we'd use OK, and comparing the letters made me think that this 
was an unmentioned case of a gradual slide from one to the other 
between now and whenever the stories were set. Don't think it had 
anything to do with the use of Q in radio codes, except very 
peripherally.

Phil
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