ok so ive been listening to HF for a few weeks now and i keep hearing people say things like QSL and QRZ and QTH and honestly i have no idea what any of it means. like i can kind of guess from context that QTH might be location because people seem to say it when they're giving their city but i'm really not sure. is there like a full list somewhere or do i just have to learn them all over time. also heard someone say QRM and QRN the other day and those sounded like they were complaining about something but i couldn't tell what. does anyone have a good way to remember these or is it just memorization

yeah the Q codes go way back to telegraphs, like before voice radio was even a thing, so thats why they seem kind of cryptic if you dont know the history. QTH is indeed your location, QRZ means "who is calling me" which you hear a lot when someone is starting a contact or didnt catch who called them. QSL is basically confirmation, like "I acknowledge" or "I got your message" -- you'll also hear it used when people are confirming a contact happened for logging purposes.

QRM is interference from other stations, man-made stuff, and QRN is natural static, like from thunderstorms or whatever. so yeah your instinct was right that someone was complaining about noise. honestly the best way i found was just to look up the ITU Q code list and bookmark it, and after a while you stop needing it because you just hear them so much they stick. QSB is fading signals, QSY means change frequency, those come up all the time on HF. it does just kind of sink in after enough listening.

73 is a big one people forget to ask about too -- its not technically a Q code but its everywhere in ham radio and it just means best regards or good wishes basically. and 88 means hugs and kisses which you hear sometimes. oh and OM means old man which sounds rude but its just what hams call each other, YL is young lady, XYL is wife lol. theres also a bunch of abbreviations that arent Q codes at all like FB which means fine business like "that's great" and CPY which is copy. once you start getting on the air yourself it clicks way faster than just reading about it