A Yell from an XYL
June 1963 Popular Electronics

June 1963 Popular Electronics Table of Contents People old and young enjoy waxing nostalgic about and learning some of the history of early electronics. Popular Electronics was published from October 1954 through April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged. See all articles from Popular Electronics.

Most amateur operators know that "YL" is Hamese for "young lady," meaning a female operator. Less well known these days is "XYL" which decades ago, referred to an ex-young lady, implying either an older woman or the wife of a Ham. According to online call sign lookup services, Popular Electronics' poet laureate K8AOU was in fact a YL; the call sign was later assigned to an OM ("old man;" i.e., male operator).

A Yell from an XYL

She had just received her General

So she got right on the air;

CQ'd and made a contact

Without a bit of care

The QSO was a good one

With signals loud and clear;

Not a sign of QRN

Or QRM to interfere.

Now you'd think she'd have been delighted

With a contact such as this;

The report that she was given would have

Filled any other ham with bliss.

But she stomped out of the ham shack

And announced that she was through;

"That man said I was FORTY OVER

But I'm only THIRTY TWO!"

Posted April 8, 2014