It's actually Seventy Three when you say it on the radio. You sometimes also hear people say best 73 as well. BUT it's never 73s as it is already pluralised.NewcastleFalcon wrote: ↑15 Jul 2019, 08:52 There's alway a bit of fascinating detail on the net....dug up this
On the origin of "73"
Seven Three"It appears from a research of telegraph histories that in 1859 the telegraph people held a convention, and one of its features was a discussion as to the saving of 'line time'. A committee was appointed to devise a code to reduce standard expressions to symbols or figures. This committee worked out a figure code, from figure 1 to 92.
(So for number noticers here's a few examples)
1 Wait a minute
4 Where shall I start in message?
5 Have you anything for me?
9 Attention or clear the wire
13 I do not understand
22 Love and kisses
25 Busy on another circuit
30 Finished, the end-used mainly by press telegraphers
73 My compliments, or Best Regards
92 Deliver
Now days, 22 has become 88 (love and kisses). I don't know when this came about. 30 is still used in the newspaper and magazine business to indicate the end of a feature, story, or column. And, of course, 73 is still used by amateur radio operators to mean "best regards".
Neil
The use of 30 in the press and journalistic field has a strange resonance for me recently as one of my other hobbies is Silver Age and Bronze Age American Comics - mostly DC comics. I was indexing a story (indexing means cataloguing information that a future researcher might need) and the artist had signed his name and then put 30 underneath. This indicated that he knew at the time that it was last story for that feature that he would illustrate.
I can't provide a link as it's still awaiting approval. but if anyone is interested please say so and I'll post it when approved.