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* A doctor may refer to a suspected case of [[tuberculosis]] as "[[Robert Koch|Koch's]] disease" in order to avoid alarming patients.
* A doctor may refer to a suspected case of [[tuberculosis]] as "[[Robert Koch|Koch's]] disease" in order to avoid alarming patients.
* Some medical nicknames are derogatory, such as GOMER for "Get Out of My Emergency Room".
* Some medical nicknames are derogatory, such as GOMER for "Get Out of My Emergency Room".
* Emergency rescue workers or [[police]] officers may say, "There is a 'K'," to mean a dead body.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}} [[Valtteri Suomalainen]] reported ''eksi'' (from {{lang-la|exitus lethalis}}), in use in hospitals in Finland.<ref>Suomalainen, Valtteri. ''Kuolet vain kahdesti.'' Recallmed 1994.</ref>
* Emergency rescue workers or [[police]] officers may say, "There is a 'K'," to mean a dead body.{{cn|date=September 2023}} [[Valtteri Suomalainen]] reported ''eksi'' (from {{langx|la|exitus lethalis}}), in use in hospitals in Finland.<ref>Suomalainen, Valtteri. ''Kuolet vain kahdesti.'' Recallmed 1994.</ref>
* Code Pink in some hospitals can mean a missing baby, and the initiation of an all-staff response.
* Code Pink in some hospitals can mean a missing baby, and the initiation of an all-staff response.
* The euphemisms "Rose Cottage" and "Rainbow's End" are sometimes used in British hospitals to enable discussion of death in front of patients, the latter mainly for children. A similar phrase used is: "transferred to ward 13", as hospitals in the UK routinely do not have such a ward.
* The euphemisms "Rose Cottage" and "Rainbow's End" are sometimes used in British hospitals to enable discussion of death in front of patients, the latter mainly for children. A similar phrase used is: "transferred to ward 13", as hospitals in the UK routinely do not have such a ward.
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[[Code name|Code names]] are used for military and espionage purposes as labels for people, locations, objects, projects and plans the details of which are intended to remain secret to the uninitiated.
[[Code name|Code names]] are used for military and espionage purposes as labels for people, locations, objects, projects and plans the details of which are intended to remain secret to the uninitiated.


For example, the code name of "Mogul" is used by the [[United States Secret Service]] to refer to the former [[President of the United States]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Eli Watkins |author2=Noah Gray|title=Here are the Secret Service codenames for Trump, Pence|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/27/politics/donald-trump-mike-pence-secret-service-codenames/index.html|access-date=2020-06-25|website=CNN|date=27 July 2016}}</ref> If an uninitiated person overheard the question "Have you seen Mogul?" asked by an agent of the United States Secret Service, the uninitiated person may be mislead into interpreting the question as "Have you seen [[Mogul (film)|Mogul]]—the biographical film of [[Gulshan Kumar]]?".
For example, the code name of "Mogul" is used by the [[United States Secret Service]] to refer to the former [[President of the United States]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Eli Watkins |author2=Noah Gray|title=Here are the Secret Service codenames for Trump, Pence|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/27/politics/donald-trump-mike-pence-secret-service-codenames/index.html|access-date=2020-06-25|website=CNN|date=27 July 2016}}</ref>


The United States Navy mistook the code word "[[Friend of Dorothy]]," meaning an LGBT individual, as meaning literally a person who was a friend of someone by the name of "Dorothy," and investigated on that basis.<ref>{{cite book |last = Shilts |first = Randy |author-link = Randy Shilts |title = Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. Military |publisher = [[St. Martin's Press]] |year = 1993 |via = [[Google Books]] |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iOAmL6JPCE0C |location = New York |page = 387 |isbn = 0-312-34264-0 }}</ref>
For example, the code name of "[[Project-706]]" was used by [[Pakistan]] to refer to a project to develop Pakistan's first [[atomic bomb]]. In the event that a [[spy]] of another country obtained a document from Pakistan listing "Project-706" as an active project with no further detail provided, the spy would not know the purpose of the project. Alternatively, had the same document obtained referred to the project as "Project Atomic Bomb Development", the spy would be able to deduce the purpose of the project.

The United States Navy mistook the code word "[[Friend of Dorothy]]," meaning an LGBT individual, as meaning literally a person who was a friend of someone by the name of "Dorothy," and investigated on that basis.


== Other usages ==
== Other usages ==
* In the United Kingdom, [[Inspector Sands]] is a code word to alert staff of an emergency situation such as a fire or an attack, without causing a mass panic. This code word was used in the [[Manchester Arena bombing]] and is used in the majority of British transport locations. The code word is usually used in the context: "Would Inspector Sands please report to the operations room immediately."
* In the United Kingdom, [[Inspector Sands]] is a code word to alert staff of an emergency situation such as a fire or an attack, without causing a mass panic. This code word was used in the [[Manchester Arena bombing]] and is used in the majority of British transport locations. The code word is usually used in the context: "Would Inspector Sands please report to the operations room immediately."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCausland |first=Chris |date=2017-04-03 |title=Inspector Sands |url=https://chrismccausland.com/blogs/inspector-sands/ |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=Chris McCausland {{!}} British Stand Up Comedian, Actor, Blogger |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* Some stores have special codes that allow one employee to inform another that a certain customer in the store needs to be watched because they are acting in a suspicious manner similar to the typical behavior of a [[shoplifting|shoplifter]].
* Some stores have special codes that allow one employee to inform another that a certain customer in the store needs to be watched because they are acting in a suspicious manner similar to the typical behavior of a [[shoplifting|shoplifter]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-25 |title=Sephora Employees Use A Code Word To Identify Potential Shoplifters |url=https://diply.com/10002252/sephora-employees-use-a-code-word-to-identify-potential-shoplif |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=Diply}}</ref>
* Movie theater employees may say, "Mr. Johnson is in theater number three" to indicate that there is a fire or smoke in that theater. Nightclubs and bars often use the name "[[Inspector Sands|Mr. Sands]]".
* Movie theater employees may say, "Mr. Johnson is in theater number three" to indicate that there is a fire or smoke in that theater. Nightclubs and bars often use the name "[[Inspector Sands|Mr. Sands]]".
* Many taxi drivers use radio codes like, "There's an oil spill at ...", or "Cardboard boxes lying on the road ...", to warn other drivers of a police speed detection unit. There are other codes to tell other drivers that a popular taxi rank is empty (or full), or warn of drunk or obnoxious customers trying to hail a taxi. "There's a number eight at the railway station," might mean beware of a fare who looks likely to [[vomiting|throw up]] in your taxi.
* Many taxi drivers use radio codes like, "There's an oil spill at ...", or "Cardboard boxes lying on the road ...", to warn other drivers of a police speed detection unit. There are other codes to tell other drivers that a popular taxi rank is empty (or full), or warn of drunk or obnoxious customers trying to hail a taxi. "There's a number eight at the railway station," might mean beware of a fare who looks likely to [[vomiting|throw up]] in your taxi.
* Schools will sometimes use codes during intercom announcements for situations that might distract students (such as an early dismissal due to weather).
* Schools will sometimes use codes during intercom announcements for situations that might distract students (such as an early dismissal due to weather).
* The [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] reported in July 2018 a total of 353 different code words used for [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel|url=https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-022-18.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-26|website=Drug Enforcement Administration}}</ref> Code words are used extensively within the [[illegal drug trade]] to hide drug trafficking activities from the uninitiated.
* The [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] reported in July 2018 a total of 353 different code words used for [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel|url=https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-022-18.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527175846/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-022-18.pdf |archive-date=2019-05-27 |access-date=2020-06-26|website=Drug Enforcement Administration}}</ref> Code words are used extensively within the [[illegal drug trade]] to hide drug trafficking activities from the uninitiated.
* Some "code words" are fictitious. In the [[Sherlock TV series]], "Vatican cameos" is used between John Watson and Sherlock Holmes as a code word, initially meaning simply 'duck' or 'get ready.' Various internet sources offer an erroneous etymology for the phrase, suggesting it dates to World War II. It is, in fact, an allusion to an unpublished case investigated by Holmes in the canonical short story [["The Hound of the Baskervilles."]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barr |first1=Robin |title=Day in the Life of a Linguist |url=https://www.american.edu/m/news/?newsID=BEC812A9-F32A-886F-18914CBC22E7CF6F |access-date=26 April 2021}}</ref>
* Some "code words" are fictitious. In the [[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]] TV series, "Vatican cameos" is used between John Watson and Sherlock Holmes as a code word, initially meaning simply 'duck' or 'get ready.' Various internet sources offer an erroneous etymology for the phrase, suggesting it dates to World War II. It is, in fact, an allusion to an unpublished case investigated by Holmes in the canonical short story "[[The Hound of the Baskervilles]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barr |first1=Robin |title=Day in the Life of a Linguist |url=https://www.american.edu/m/news/?newsID=BEC812A9-F32A-886F-18914CBC22E7CF6F |access-date=26 April 2021}}</ref>


== Informal code words and propaganda ==
== Informal code words and propaganda ==


An informal code word is a term used without formal or prior agreement to communicate to a subset of listeners or readers predisposed to see its double meaning.{{cn|date=June 2019}}
An informal code word is a term used without formal or prior agreement to communicate to a subset of listeners or readers predisposed to see its double meaning.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Fox Rothschild LLP-Richard B. |date=2012-03-20 |title=Code words and dog whistles |url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=1d389376-4c6a-47cb-b16a-ad86438cff39 |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=Lexology |language=en}}</ref>


Informal code words can find use in [[propaganda]], distinct from use of [[euphemism|euphemistic]] code words to delay or avoid emotional responses in the audience. They may be intended to be construed as generalized platitudes by the majority of listeners, but as quite specific promises by those for whom the specific wording was crafted.{{cn|date=June 2019}}
Informal code words can find use in [[propaganda]], distinct from use of [[euphemism|euphemistic]] code words to delay or avoid emotional responses in the audience. They may be intended to be construed as generalized platitudes by the majority of listeners, but as quite specific promises by those for whom the specific wording was crafted.{{cn|date=September 2023}}


== See also ==
== See also ==

Latest revision as of 14:44, 25 October 2024

A code word is a word or a phrase designed to convey a predetermined meaning to an audience who know the phrase, while remaining inconspicuous to the uninitiated. For example, a public address system may be used to make an announcement asking for "Inspector Sands" to attend a particular area, which staff will recognise as a code word for a fire or bomb threat, and the general public will ignore.[1][2]

Medical use

[edit]
Further information: Hospital emergency codes
  • A doctor may refer to a suspected case of tuberculosis as "Koch's disease" in order to avoid alarming patients.
  • Some medical nicknames are derogatory, such as GOMER for "Get Out of My Emergency Room".
  • Emergency rescue workers or police officers may say, "There is a 'K'," to mean a dead body.[citation needed] Valtteri Suomalainen reported eksi (from Latin: exitus lethalis), in use in hospitals in Finland.[3]
  • Code Pink in some hospitals can mean a missing baby, and the initiation of an all-staff response.
  • The euphemisms "Rose Cottage" and "Rainbow's End" are sometimes used in British hospitals to enable discussion of death in front of patients, the latter mainly for children. A similar phrase used is: "transferred to ward 13", as hospitals in the UK routinely do not have such a ward.
  • American hospitals may make an announcement regarding a "Mr. [or Dr.] Strong", as code to alert orderlies that a patient or visitor at a stated location is in need of physical restraint.

Military and espionage use

[edit]
Main article: Code name

Code names are used for military and espionage purposes as labels for people, locations, objects, projects and plans the details of which are intended to remain secret to the uninitiated.

For example, the code name of "Mogul" is used by the United States Secret Service to refer to the former President of the United States Donald Trump.[4]

The United States Navy mistook the code word "Friend of Dorothy," meaning an LGBT individual, as meaning literally a person who was a friend of someone by the name of "Dorothy," and investigated on that basis.[5]

Other usages

[edit]
  • In the United Kingdom, Inspector Sands is a code word to alert staff of an emergency situation such as a fire or an attack, without causing a mass panic. This code word was used in the Manchester Arena bombing and is used in the majority of British transport locations. The code word is usually used in the context: "Would Inspector Sands please report to the operations room immediately."[6]
  • Some stores have special codes that allow one employee to inform another that a certain customer in the store needs to be watched because they are acting in a suspicious manner similar to the typical behavior of a shoplifter.[7]
  • Movie theater employees may say, "Mr. Johnson is in theater number three" to indicate that there is a fire or smoke in that theater. Nightclubs and bars often use the name "Mr. Sands".
  • Many taxi drivers use radio codes like, "There's an oil spill at ...", or "Cardboard boxes lying on the road ...", to warn other drivers of a police speed detection unit. There are other codes to tell other drivers that a popular taxi rank is empty (or full), or warn of drunk or obnoxious customers trying to hail a taxi. "There's a number eight at the railway station," might mean beware of a fare who looks likely to throw up in your taxi.
  • Schools will sometimes use codes during intercom announcements for situations that might distract students (such as an early dismissal due to weather).
  • The Drug Enforcement Administration reported in July 2018 a total of 353 different code words used for cannabis.[8] Code words are used extensively within the illegal drug trade to hide drug trafficking activities from the uninitiated.
  • Some "code words" are fictitious. In the Sherlock TV series, "Vatican cameos" is used between John Watson and Sherlock Holmes as a code word, initially meaning simply 'duck' or 'get ready.' Various internet sources offer an erroneous etymology for the phrase, suggesting it dates to World War II. It is, in fact, an allusion to an unpublished case investigated by Holmes in the canonical short story "The Hound of the Baskervilles".[9]

Informal code words and propaganda

[edit]

An informal code word is a term used without formal or prior agreement to communicate to a subset of listeners or readers predisposed to see its double meaning.[10]

Informal code words can find use in propaganda, distinct from use of euphemistic code words to delay or avoid emotional responses in the audience. They may be intended to be construed as generalized platitudes by the majority of listeners, but as quite specific promises by those for whom the specific wording was crafted.[citation needed]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Thompson, Rachel (11 August 2017). "The secret code phrase you don't want to hear when you're on the Tube". Mashable. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  2. ^ Metro.co.uk, Phil Haigh for (2017-08-11). "Who is Inspector Sands? Why you don't want to hear this name on the Tube". Metro. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  3. ^ Suomalainen, Valtteri. Kuolet vain kahdesti. Recallmed 1994.
  4. ^ Eli Watkins; Noah Gray (27 July 2016). "Here are the Secret Service codenames for Trump, Pence". CNN. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  5. ^ Shilts, Randy (1993). Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. Military. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 387. ISBN 0-312-34264-0 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ McCausland, Chris (2017-04-03). "Inspector Sands". Chris McCausland | British Stand Up Comedian, Actor, Blogger. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  7. ^ "Sephora Employees Use A Code Word To Identify Potential Shoplifters". Diply. 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  8. ^ "Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel" (PDF). Drug Enforcement Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-05-27. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  9. ^ Barr, Robin. "Day in the Life of a Linguist". Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  10. ^ Cohen, Fox Rothschild LLP-Richard B. (2012-03-20). "Code words and dog whistles". Lexology. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
[edit]

Usage examples:

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