Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

My significant other drives tractor trailer. He has done various types of driving jobs over the last 13 years.

They have kind of phased out the use of CBs with cell phones but they still have their own language.

“Chicken Coop” refers to the weight stations.
“Chicken Lights” are all those little lights they put on their trucks, usually yellow.
“Chicken Slides” are a slide on top of the cab.

I have asked if he knows where this comes from. The best guess is that the first truckers drove chickens around from farm to plant.

He will also say things like “blink blink flash flash, all that trucker trash” when he flashes his lights at another semi.

They often communicate with each other by flashing lights on the road to let the other driver know if it is okay to merge.

Anyone have any idea on the origins of these sayings? ' class='wp-smiley' />