Do you have any idea what all of these words have in common?
Gopher
Gambit
Ghoul
Ambush
Amuck
Viking
Vintage
This is a tough one, so here’s a hint: they all have something to do with the Ford Model T.
Give up? I recently picked up a 1919 Ford Price List booklet for Model T parts and accessories and found all of the above words and many more under the column titled “Code Word.”
These code words were used when ordering parts by telegraph, a primary means of communication in 1919. When sending a telegram, the sender was charged by the word, so code words were developed as a more economical way of communicating entire phrases or sentences. Existing words were used because telegraph companies and regulatory bodies were restricting the length of code words that weren’t “ordinary” words due to the additional time it took telegraph operators to correctly send the specified combination of letters.
You do have to wonder at the choice of some of the code words, however. For instance, if I was in need of a starting crank handle bolt for my 1909-1919 Ford, I would have telegraphed that I needed a “starting crank handle bolt,” no matter the cost:
