I Made Some Educated Guesses on This Guide to Trucker Slang
10-4: Truckers believe that it is bad luck to say the number 40 because this was the number of years the Israelites wandered in the desert. Therefore, whenever they are required to name a quantity between 39 and 50, they use this simple euphemism.
Rig: The word rig is an acronym standing for “Really Interesting Giallo.” Truckers love all forms of transgressive cinema, but have a particular fondness for the stylish but lurid Italian noir of the ’60s and ’70s. A particularly good Giallo film, such as Suspiria or Your Vice is a Locked Room is referred to as a Big Rig.
Roger: Used to express agreement or acknowledgment. The reference is to Roger II of Sicily, whose 1127 claim to the Principality of Capua truckers defend as self-evidently legitimate.
Bear: A police officer. This slang term arose from the erroneous trucker belief that police officers go to sleep for the entirety of winter, making all crime legal until spring.
Highway: A “highway” is a mythical trucker’s paradise, an imaginary road on which truckers would be allowed to drive up to 50 or even 60 miles per hour and encounter no stop signs or cross streets. In addition to these whimsical features, highways were said to be quite long, in some cases reaching from one city to multiple entirely different cities.
Truevies: A “truevie” is what truckers call films in the cinema verité or direct cinema movement. However, there is considerable controversy among truckers about whether truevies should attempt to document reality as it is lived or use the camera as a tool to provoke and confront reality.
Copy That: A way of telling another trucker that they just sounded really cool, so cool you’re going to try and imitate them in the future. Truckers are extremely anxious, and require constant reassurance that other people on the radio aren’t judging them.
Rule of Kul: Trucker slang for the Kuleshov effect, the principle that as much information is gained from the juxtaposition of shots as from the shots themselves.
Traffic Light: A trucker myth of a light which appears in the sky and, supposedly, warns drivers when it is safe or unsafe to cross an intersection.
The Ten-Four Year Old Virgin: Every trucker’s favorite Steve Carrell comedy.
Pig: A giallo movie that’s just okay.
Good Buddy: A “good buddy” is anyone who recognizes the legitimacy of Roger II of Sicily’s claim to the Principality of Capua. Those who support Robert II of Aversa, as anointed by Pope Honorius II, are called “Robbers” or “Bert Brains.”
Swindle Sheets: The script for a truckers’ planned avant-garde movie. All truckers have one, and they are called swindle sheets because truckers believe the companies that employ them frequently steal their scripts and attempt to pass them off as their own.
Radio Check: A way for truckers to ask if what they’re saying on the radio sounds cool, and if anyone’s mad at them.
Wesburn: An acid western, or any film which uses the setting and aesthetics of classic westerns to express elevated or countercultural sentiments.
Frostbit: A trucker is said to be “frostbit” if they get arrested for committing a crime in winter, even though the police are supposed to be asleep.
18-Wheeler: Another trucker myth, the 18-wheeler refers to an automobile so large it needs 18 separate wheels just to drive on the road.
Put the Hammer Down: To sue a shipping company for stealing the idea for your avant-garde film.
Over and Out: The only thing a trucker will say to you if they believe you defend Pope Honorius II in his conflict with Roger II of Sicily.