so ive been listening to a lot of HF lately and people are constantly using these weird three letter codes starting with Q and also a bunch of other shorthand stuff i cant figure out. like QSL and QTH and QRM and then also stuff like 73 and sometimes people say things like OM or YL and i have no idea what any of it means. is there like a master list somewhere or do people just kind of learn it over time? i feel like i should know this already but nobody really explained it when i was studying for my tech exam

yeah these trip up a lot of new hams, dont feel bad. the Q codes go back to like early maritime radio days, they were originally designed so operators who spoke different languages could still communicate quickly. QTH is your location, QSL means acknowledge or confirm (thats also why the cards are called QSL cards), QRM is interference from other stations, QRN is static or natural noise, QSB is signal fading, QRZ is basically "who is calling me", and QSY means change frequency. theres a ton more but those are the ones you hear constantly. the 73 thing just means best regards, nobody really knows exactly where it came from but its been around forever. OM means old man which sounds rude but its actually just how you refer to any male ham, and YL is young lady which is used for any female operator regardless of age. honestly just spend some time on the air and you pick it up real fast, within a few months it starts to feel totally natural

theres a decent reference on the ARRL site and also just google qcode list and youll find charts. i printed one out when i was starting and kept it next to my radio for a while. also QRP means low power operation which you hear a lot if people are running like 5 watts or less, and QRO is the opposite, high power. oh and CQ is not technically a Q code i think but its how you call for any station, like youre just putting out a general call. 88 is another one which means love and kisses, usually used when signing off with a YL operator, some people find it a bit old fashioned now but you still hear it occasionally