ok so ive been listening to HF for a few weeks now and i keep hearing and seeing all these weird codes and shorthand that i dont understand at all. like people say QRM and QSB and stuff like that and i have no idea what any of it means. also on digital modes there's even more of it. is there a list somewhere or do people just kind of pick it up over time? i feel like everyone else already knows this stuff and im the only one lost. also someone told me to send 73 at the end of a QSO which i did but i dont actually know what it means lol. is there like a standard set of these or does every region have different ones

haha dont worry man everyone goes through this phase. the Q codes go way back to before voice radio even existed, like telegraph era stuff, so thats why they seem so random. basically QRM means interference from other stations, QSB is when your signal is fading up and down, QSY means change frequency, QTH is your location, QRN is static/noise. the big ones you'll hear most on HF are probably QRM, QSB, QRZ (who is calling me) and QSL which means i confirm or acknowledge. 73 just means best regards, its been used forever. theres also a bunch of non-Q abbreviations like OM which is old man but its not rude its just what people call each other, and YL for young lady, and FB means fine business like saying cool or great. honestly just google ARRL Q codes and bookmark it, you'll start recognizing them pretty fast once you're actually on the air making contacts. took me maybe a month before they felt natural

yeah the Q codes clicked for me once i started doing a lot of CW because in morse you really cant waste time spelling everything out so like QRN means static and you just send that instead of typing out static and everyones on the same page. on SSB people still use them out of habit even though you could just say the word. one thing that tripped me up for a while was QRP vs QRO, QRP is low power like 5 watts or less and theres a whole community around it, QRO is high power. and PSE means please, UR means your, TNX or TU means thanks. once you get into contesting theres even more shorthand but thats a whole other rabbit hole