# could someone explain this for me please? \[Neo-Nazi code words\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866 "2016-04-23T02:52:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/1 "2016-04-23T02:52:27Z")
So, I was reading "[The Great Outage"](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=791061)down in the pit, there was mention of a user who’s username initials are hh, and the fact that he seems (is? I don’t know) a neo-Nazi, or Nazi supporter or whatever. Now my understanding is that neo-nazis seem to like the intials hh and like to use 88 in screen names also (as a reference to hh I guess) but, what is the significance? I don’t get it, why hh? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/2 "2016-04-23T02:54:48Z")
hh= Heil Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/3 "2016-04-23T03:20:22Z")
Ah, seems so obvious now. Much grace to you coach. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/4 "2016-04-23T05:41:28Z")
And h is the 8th letter in the alphabet. (English anyway. I don’t know what the German alphabet looks like.) Thus 88 = hh, which is why neo-Nazis like to use the number 88 a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/5 "2016-04-23T05:47:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I don’t know what the German alphabet looks like. Same as English. H is the 8th letter in German too. The double S or ß isn’t part of the regular alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/6 "2016-04-23T05:52:42Z")
Neo Nazis also like “88” because of the famous Nazi-era 88 mm anti-tank/anti-aircraft gun: > **[8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.8_cm_Flak_18/36/37/41)** > > The 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 is a German 88 mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun, developed in the 1930s. It was widely used by Germany throughout World War II and is one of the most recognized German weapons of the conflict. Development of the original model led to a wide variety of guns. > The name applies to a series of related guns, the first one officially called the 8.8 cm Flak 18, the improved 8.8 cm Flak 36, and later the 8.8 cm Flak 37.\[N 1\] Flak is a contraction of German Flug... ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/7 "2016-04-23T06:14:39Z")
I thought it was because they like Wagner so much, and he composed on a piano, which has 88 keys. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/8 "2016-04-23T11:37:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I thought it was because they like Wagner so much, and he composed on a piano, which has 88 keys. And “88” is police code for a disturbance involving nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/9 "2016-04-23T12:37:53Z")
Wasn’t there also something about a declaration of white superiority, or the like, that was 88 words long? Or am I thinking of some other number? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/10 "2016-04-23T13:34:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And “88” is police code for a disturbance involving nazis. I remember the failed series from its pilot, Adam 88. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/11 "2016-04-23T13:54:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wasn’t there also something about a declaration of white superiority, or the like, that was 88 words long? Or am I thinking of some other number? [Fourteen Words](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words) Hence 14/88 etc. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/12 "2016-04-23T15:09:41Z")
Also 18 - as in C_mb_t 18 - is also a reference to AH. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/13 "2016-04-23T15:21:55Z")
Just posting to comment that of all the woo in the world, I think I hate numerology and its variants the most. (I also don’t like anagrams. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/14 "2016-04-23T15:29:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And “88” is police code for a disturbance involving nazis. Googling “police code 88” doesn’t confirm this. Do you have a cite? (I’m dubious, mostly because I can’t see the need for a special code for this kind of eventuality – would the police handle it differently than, say, a disturbance involving anarchists?) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/15 "2016-04-23T15:35:29Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Googling “police code 88” doesn’t confirm this. Do you have a cite? > > (I’m dubious, mostly because I can’t see the need for a special code for this kind of eventuality – would the police handle it differently than, say, a disturbance involving anarchists?) Mall police, specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Herdthiscat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8baadc/32.png) [@Herdthiscat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herdthiscat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/16 "2016-04-25T04:25:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Mall police, specifically. Positively correct. As a sidenote, 88, or “hatey hate” - a particularly impassioned form of hate - is a notable characteristic of the cultural group in question, which has come to embrace the term in the form of a two-digit number. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/17 "2016-04-25T05:21:22Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And “88” is police code for a disturbance involving nazis. That’s really depressing! 88 used to be old telegraphers’ code for “With love and kisses.” [cite.](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/88-or-how-telegraphers-coded-love-and-kisses/282850/) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/18 "2016-04-25T07:22:29Z")
As I recall, the habit of automatically typing HH or Heil Hitler to open and/or close military messages in WW2 was an invaluable aid to Allied codebreakers. ---
**Author:** ![TheShaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TheShaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheShaper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/19 "2016-04-25T07:27:54Z")
Well, if you think that’s bad, consider this: If you consider two first names ambiguous, then let’s take the name Lee. Lee is use as a first name, middle name, and last name. So technically you could have this for a name: Lee Lee Lee. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866/20 "2016-04-25T14:59:10Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > As I recall, the habit of automatically typing HH or Heil Hitler to open and/or close military messages in WW2 was an invaluable aid to Allied codebreakers. Yes. The Enigma machine at one point required a six-letter code as a starting point. Each machine had three letters. The code breakers found a lot of the codes began with “HIT” and were able to figure out the rest. (“BER” was also a common combination – with “LIN” as the rest). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-explain-this-for-me-please-neo-nazi-code-words/752866.md?page=2)