so ive been licensed for about 3 months now and i mostly just listen but when i do try to talk people throw out all these abbreviations and i can never keep up. like i get QSL because everyone talks about QSL cards but then someone said QRM and i had no idea what that meant in context, and then i heard QSY and had to google it mid-contact which was embarassing. is there a good way to just learn these or do you basically just pick them up over time from listening. also are there ones that are considered more important to know vs ones that barely anyone uses anymore

yeah you basically pick them up over time honestly, at least the common ones. the ones you'll hear constantly are QSL (confirmed / i acknowledge), QRM (interference from other stations), QRN (static or natural noise), QRZ (who is calling me), QSY (change frequency), QTH (your location), and QSB which is signal fading. those probably cover like 90% of what you'll hear in normal HF conversation. there's also 73 which isnt technically a Q code but everybody uses it to mean best regards or goodbye basically. if you ever get into CW contesting you'll learn a bunch more real fast because ops use them constantly to save time. but dont stress about memorizing the whole list, just look one up when you hear it and it sticks after you've seen it a few times in context

QRZ is the one that tripped me up for the longest time because i kept thinking it meant something was wrong lol. turns out its just the other station asking who's calling them, you hear it a lot when someone is running a pileup on a DX station. also dont overlook QRP if you get into low power stuff, that one gets used a lot in certain communities. oh and people say 73 all the time which is shorthand for best regards, and some people say 88 which means love and kisses, kind of old fashioned but you still hear it occasionally. theres a big list on the ARRL site if you want to bookmark it for reference but honestly after a few months of listening it just clicks