The things you find while looking for other things!

Here's a 1924 newspaper account of training men to receive morse code, by playing code to them mas they slept. It was intended as an amusing tidbit. But could it indicate something very profound as to how the mind, having perceived individual letters, converts that perception into words?

At the Great Lakes Naval Training Station the new-fangled psychological method of increasing speeds in code reception while the partly trained gobs sleep, is being used with as great success as met the initial sleep instruction tests at Pensacola.

One night, after sending at high speed to 17 sleeping embryo operators, equipped in “ear-muffs,” a petty officer ended his watch with the code message: “Hey, Gobs! Get up; it’s five-fifty-five!

Much to his surprise, the snoring ceased, three of the men awoke, and in a few minutes the other 14 rolled out, asking what was the matter. The officer now admits night code practice may increase receiving speed, but he knows it will get the students up.

I'm glad they didn't do that when I was in radio school. It was bad enough listening to six hours of it during the day.
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quote:

gobs

Presumably that's (US) naval slang; for a trainee, radio operator, or what? Is it still used? The only "gob" I know of is slang for "mouth". See https://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/33260709...411040364#6411040364

EDIT: I just found this: https://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/41060069...=373101185#373101185

According to the Regional Dictionary of American Slang, gob (from gobshite) has been around since about 1890. The last reference cited is around 1965.

My brother-in-law was in the Navy a few years later and never mentioned the usage. I know I never called him that, although I did call him a few other choice things at times.

Gob has always meant any Navy enlisted man, to me. It is certainly not restricted to radio operators.