ten four

[j1_69]

what does it mean when someone on the police force says 'ten four'?

[Quizmonster]

It means 'yes/OK'...equivalent to 'Roger'. Click http://www.geocities.com/truckinwives/lang.html for this and other police/trucker code/slang.

[j1_69]

thanks very much quizmonster, but where are the origins of this saying. why "10 4"?

[Pinotage]

In the early days anyone with a normal radio could tune into Police broadcasts so they invented this code to get some privacy, but also to cut down radio time, and have less misunderstandings. Radio codes were not new, their forerunner was telegraphic codes, and of course shortened morse codes, one of which is the famous SOS.

It didn't take long for Police radio codes to become known, television programmes like Car 54 popularised them and the CB radio craze (remember that) got them into the public domain.

Different police forces develop dtheir own codes, there's not a standard list, but - and here I 'm going to part from Quizmonster - usually 10-4 means 'acknowledged, not yes. As does 'Roger'.

 

If you're interested in 'Roger', here is what Michael Quinion has to say:-

The letter R, expanded to Roger, was used to mean message received, and had been in use in that sense ever since the early days of Morse code. Since the operator was often acknowledging receipt of a message on which he would have to act in some way, the response came not only to mean that he had received it, but that he had understood it, a subtle but crucial extension. (If he wanted to say explicitly that he would carry out an instruction, he would add wilco, short for "I will comply". Hence all these handle-bar moustached aviators in films like The Dam Busters shouting "Roger, Wilco!" into their handsets before peeling off to do some deed of daring.)

This meaning for Roger became so stereotyped that it survived the shift to the international phonetic alphabet that almost everybody now uses, which instead has Romeo for R. It's a good thing it only came in after the War: "Romeo, Wilco!" doesn't have the same ring ...

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rog1.htm

11:38 Sat 26th Oct 2002

[ladydelaluna]

Yay! Another one for the American! LOL... I'm a 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatcher, and I work with the on-duty police force in handling emergencies, traffic stops, etc. The whole thing about 10-4 is fairly simple. Because radio air time is sensitive, not only in time, but because a lot of people have illegal scanners in their homes (we call them "scanner-hounds", nosy people... lol) law enforcement agencies all around came up with "code". There are a million codes on the air, and although most are universal, some are different per agency. For example, a standard code might be 10-10, which means that the officer is out at his residence... that could mean he's off shift, and home with a police vehicle for the night, or that he just stopped off at his home for a meal break. 10-4 actually means "All is well." When I ask an officer for his "status" (to see if he's having any trouble), and he answers me "10-4" I know that everything is ok. My agency doesn't use "10-4" as an ending, like "roger". At the end of a transmission (conversation), the dispatcher says "Received. (As in, I heard you clearly, and understand what you've asked me to do.) and then we state the time in military (zulu) time." A few others in my agency: "10-8" means that the officer has completed the task he was doing, and is back in his vehicle, free to go to another call, or patrol the roads. "10-16, (address)" means he's out at an address, attempting to serve civil court papers. "10-7" means he's out of his vehicle and not near his radio, like when he's just pulled over a vehicle and is issuing the driver a traffic ticket. LOL okay enough is enough... I hope I helped!