# Did you know this meaning of "88"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2014, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523 "2014-07-07T10:52:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/41 "2014-07-07T16:26:40Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > From **Huerta88** , I knew it had to do with Nazis. No idea why. I also learned this from **Bricker’s** thread about **Huerta88** several years ago. Hadn’t thought about it before or after that. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/42 "2014-07-07T16:49:13Z")
To answer the OP, I’ve got a vague inkling that I’ve heard it before, probably on this board, but it isn’t something I remembered. I skimmed through the linked thread, but missed the explanation of what 88 means, and couldn’t work it out. > [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > To tack a rider question on; would you judge someone with 88 in their user name (say, if I was **Mr. Kobayashi88** ) differently, or figure it’s just a number until proven otherwise? I’d just assume that when you registered, the screen told you that your choice is already taken, and offered you some alternate suggestions: - Mr. Kobayashi45 - Mr. Kobayashi21 - Mr. Kobayashi88 - Mr. Kobayashi76 Similar choices have been offered to me many times. > [@amanset](#): > > I posted in that thread. I knew about 88 and 18, but 14 was a new one to me. okay, I’ll bite. what are 18 and 14? ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/43 "2014-07-07T17:20:04Z")
I knew about 88 but not about “14 words”. If I saw a username ending in 88, I probably wouldnt make the association unless something else in the username or in the user’s behavior was pointing in the same direction. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/44 "2014-07-07T17:22:24Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > … > I’d just assume that when you registered, the screen told you that your choice is already taken, and offered you some alternate suggestions: > > - Mr. Kobayashi45 > - Mr. Kobayashi21 > - Mr. Kobayashi88 > - Mr. Kobayashi76 > > Similar choices have been offered to me many times. By that logic, where are all the Mr.Kobayashi87s and Mr.Kobayashi89s? > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > okay, I’ll bite. what are 18 and 14? 18 is the same code as 88. A=1, H=8, Adolf Hitler. 14 is mentioned earlier as an American white supremacist code, the “14 words”. ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/45 "2014-07-07T17:26:04Z")
It’s a new one on me. I don’t usually pay much attention to numbers in usernames, figuring they are padding because the wanted name was taken. Had never heard of 88 being related to Nazism. Only 88’s outside of sports that I can think of are the Crazy 88 from Kill Bill. And I thought they chose that for their name because number of fighters and[the belief that the number 8 is lucky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Eight). [Wikipedia on the number 88](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_(number)), also explains the number 14 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/46 "2014-07-07T17:51:19Z")
An unrelated numerical meme is the use of the number 420. I had never heard about this. I was forcibly introduced to it when asshole potheads (note: not all potheads are assholes - just these particular ones) kept stealing my parent’s rural road number - 420. They actually caught them red-handed at it once (the assholes drove away fast). We were wondering “why the hell are these people always stealing our road sign?” when someone clued us in to its meaning in pot culture. My parent’s property actually spans several road numbers: he just changed it to “400” and the sign was never stolen again. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/47 "2014-07-07T17:51:40Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > By that logic, where are all the Mr.Kobayashi87s and Mr.Kobayashi89s?. Who says there aren’t any? ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/48 "2014-07-07T18:16:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You’d be wrong, there. > > This isn’t “backward masking”, or Satanic Ritual Abuse, this is the use of a symbol by a group of people to self-identify. Having an “88” tattoo is exactly like having a swastika tattoo, except for being slightly more subtle. > > Unless you feel that there are in actuality no neo-nazis or white supremacists out there, that it is all “media hype”? I’m not saying neither exist, I just find the whole “secret code” of a number corresponding to a letter simplistic and silly. **Annie-Xmas** > [@](#): > > I learned about it a few years back, when I went with a friend to a tattoo parlor. **One of the designs was a swastika with an “8” on each side of it**. I asked the tattoo artist what it meant, and he explained it. And that he did quite a few of them. An “8” on either side of a swastika? I’m guessing there may be a negative connotation with those 8s. This is tantamount to gang symbols and graffiti, which I also find silly. Kids eat this shit, but we’re adults here right? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/49 "2014-07-07T18:16:51Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > When he started his career, he was driviing car #8. When he moved to Hendrick Racing, he couldn’t take the number with him, but 88 was available. > > I started out heree as **Rocket88** , but requested a change when I became aware of the neo-nazi connotation. That, and I thought it was kind of a boring handle anyway. Even knowing the association with neo-Nazis, the only association I would make with Rocket88 is that old blues tune. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/50 "2014-07-07T18:30:18Z")
I wonder if Neo nazis are fond of Oldsmobiles. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/51 "2014-07-07T18:42:00Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I wonder if Neo nazis are fond of Oldsmobiles. And the Delta is Greek for the letter D that stands Deutschland. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/52 "2014-07-07T18:49:02Z")
I heard about it here. I think it had something to do about Target having t-shirts with the number 88, and having to stop selling them. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/53 "2014-07-07T19:05:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > 18 is the same code as 88. A=1, H=8, Adolf Hitler. 14 is mentioned earlier as an American white supremacist code, the “14 words”. Indeed. 18 is used by one the biggest (maybe the biggest) neo nazi groups in the UK: [Combat 18](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_18). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/54 "2014-07-07T19:10:55Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > I’m not saying neither exist, I just find the whole “secret code” of a number corresponding to a letter simplistic and silly. Yes, it is silly. But it is also real. No one is forcing neo-nazis to use “88” - they are using it themselves. They are publicly telling you of their beliefs. Use the knowledge, ignore it, whatever, just don’t pretend it isn’t there. > [@Doyle](#): > > An “8” on either side of a swastika? I’m guessing there may be a negative connotation with those 8s. This is tantamount to gang symbols and graffiti, which I also find silly. Kids eat this shit, but we’re adults here right? Yes, the “negative connotation” is that the wearer of the tattoo is a white supremacist. Why are you dismissing this? Why are you reveling in your ignorance? Try walking around the right neighborhood with the wrong gang symbols. Tell the gangbangers how silly you think it is. I’ll bet you and the gangs will have a good laugh over the whole thing. Addendum: meant to add - it’s not a two-way symbol. Not every use of “88” means neo-nazi, but every use of “88” BY neo-nazis is a sign. So knock off the ignorance about not being able to drive Buick 88s, okay? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/55 "2014-07-07T19:15:09Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > . > > It’s neo-Nazi code, H being the 8th letter of the alphabet so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler. > > . No, it’s not. I suppose it could be, but it’s not commonly use that way at all. To me, and to those I know, it had no nazi significance at all. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/56 "2014-07-07T19:28:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Yes, it is silly. But it is also real. No one is forcing neo-nazis to use “88” - they are using it themselves. They are publicly telling you of their beliefs. Use the knowledge, ignore it, whatever, just don’t pretend it isn’t there. > > Yes, the “negative connotation” is that the wearer of the tattoo is a white supremacist. > > Why are you dismissing this? Why are you reveling in your ignorance? > > Try walking around the right neighborhood with the wrong gang symbols. Tell the gangbangers how silly you think it is. I’ll bet you and the gangs will have a good laugh over the whole thing. My point is that the 88 is a tad unnecessary when it is already sandwiching a swastika. Just more crap they can tattoo on their body. And no, I wouldn’t think of telling a skinhead that I think the whole idea of 88 is stupid, that’s why I’m telling you here. I live in New Orleans and there are plenty of neighborhoods I wouldn’t walk in day or night, no matter what I was wearing. Believe me, because I find the concept of this 88 to be goofy, doesn’t mean I’m marginalizing their threat. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/57 "2014-07-07T19:31:02Z")
Yup; I’ve known about the “88” thing for a while. I can’t recall where I first learned it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/58 "2014-07-07T19:31:27Z")
I used to see 88 or 14/88 a ton because I spent a lot of time on usenet back in the ancient past. Now that I never go on usenet, it’s much MUCH rarer for me to see it, which pleases me. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/59 "2014-07-07T19:40:39Z")
I’ve heard it before, but only on this board, and I see the earliest thread I can find on it dates back to [2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=35774). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523/60 "2014-07-07T20:35:26Z")
I heard about it long ago. The last time this came around here there were a number of people taking the “I’ve never heard of it so it must not be real” stance. It was very frustrating trying to explain it. FYI the Hell’s Angels use 81 as code for their club. Other gangs have tons of number codes that they use in their tags and tattoos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-meaning-of-88/692523.md?page=4)