Code word

[[File:Hundepfeife01.JPG|right|165px|thumb|An irl dog whistle]]
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{{cquote|…my hovercraft is full of eels!|||[[Fun:Monty Python|Monty Python]], ''Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNm1p1Y-XQ Monty Python's Flying Circus - Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook] at [[YouTube]].</ref>|||}}

A '''code word''' is a type of [[term of art]] whose meaning is [[Denialism#Plausible deniability|intentionally obscured]], usually in order to [[Spin|increase acceptability]] to outsiders. The act of using code words is often referred to as '''dog whistle politics''' (see also [[crypto-politics]]), referring to the fact that the "code" can only be understood or heard by a select target group (just as a dog whistle can be heard by [[dog]]s but not by [[humans]]<ref>[https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/science/blue-sky-science-how-can-dogs-hear-a-dog-whistle-but-people-cannot/article_85f0ff53-93fd-5841-8d0a-d76d418f2eb5.html Blue Sky Science: How can dogs hear a dog whistle but people cannot?] ''Wisconsin State Journal.''</ref>). Many, though not all, such terms are also [[snarl word]]s, used to disguise the outright offense that they would cause if the user just spoke literally. Many [[Christian]] terms, including "[[salvation]]", "[[pagan]]", and the like, were code words in the original Greek and Latin forms. Similar to the [[Euphemism#Euphemism treadmill|"euphemism treadmill"]], some code words eventually cease to be coded as they've been used so often that people can see through them.

In many respects, [[prayers]] and especially [[imprecatory prayer]]s can be viewed as coded messages, although in a slightly different sense to a "code word". In these cases, prayers that call for actions &mdash; ostensibly by the hand of [[God]] &mdash; may be seen as [[Inflammatory language|incitement for people to actually carry it out]]. Prayers calling for ''good'' acts can also generate this effect, so preachers name-dropping charitable acts may inspire their flock to donate their time or money. More sinisterly, preachers who call for [[curse]]s to be placed on their opponents may just be blowing off steam, but are guilty of incitement should anyone try to take the matter into their own materialistic hands &mdash; it could be further argued that this is intentional, and coding the request behind a call for divine intervention "absolves" a preacher from guilt.<ref group=note>Whether a judge or jury would actually accept this excuse may vary.</ref>

According to racist [[Steve Sailer]], the dog whistle was invented by [[eugenicist]] pseudoscienist [[Francis Galton]]. Gee, no surprise there.

==Example code words==

{{cquote|Today is Wednesday.|||[[Philosophy Tube]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgwS_FMZ3nQ&t=2633s The Philosophy of Antifa], ''Youtube''.</ref>|||}}

Code words and dog whistles aim to disguise a particular view, usually in an attempt to make it palatable to outsiders who have yet to "decode" it, while allowing the less savory meanings to be understood by the in-group. This makes them slightly different from plain [[loaded language]], which tries to sway opinions about a subject.

===Specific types===
====Antisemitic dog whistles====
{{main|Antisemitism}}
{{cquote|Communism is older than Christianity. It is the curse of the ages. It hounded and persecuted the Savior during his earthly ministry, inspired his crucifixion...|||John Rankin, totally-non-antisemitic Mississippi Congressman.<ref>https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/fl-xpm-2010-03-09-fl-jjps-warshal-0310-20100309-story.html</ref>}}
Antisemitism is often expressed in dog whistle terms, which are picked up by those familiar with the main concepts of Antisemitism but not by the populace as a whole. Examples are talk about [[International Jewish Conspiracy|the "controlled" media]] (without specifying who controls it, but anti-Semites ''know'' "who" that means); "[[The Evil Jew|international (often central) bankers]]" (without specifying ''[[Jewish]]'' international or [[Central bank|central]] bankers, but anti-Semites ''know'' who);<ref group=note>This can even be a tad more direct if the ''names'' of certain banks are emphasized in an odd way; Lehman, for example, is a common German name, but mentioning the name in a certain way is bound to be "understood" by those "in the know".</ref> etc. Similarly, there is the originally Stalinist denunciation of "cosmopolitanism" or "rootless cosmopolitan", and more general references to "citizens of nowhere", "international elites", etc.<ref>[https://blog.politicsmeanspolitics.com/the-anti-semitic-origins-of-citizens-of-nowhere-3e50436e6fc3 The anti-semitic origins of “citizens of nowhere”.], Politics Means Politics, Jun 8, 2018</ref> "Dual loyalty" is a dog whistle term used by both anti-Semites and [[anti-Catholic]]s to imply the person's real loyalty is to [[Israel]] or the [[Roman Catholic Church|Vatican]] and not their own country (demands to curtail people with "dual citizenship" are also used as an antisemitic dog whistle in a similar fashion). Another term is anti-Zionism, or criticism of [[Israel]]. While people can legitimately criticize Israel for a great many reasons, professed anti-[[Zionism]] can be a thinly-veiled front for Antisemitism. Other seemingly-innocent terms include "New York intellectual" and variations.<ref>[https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH/J003603/1 Stanley Kubrick: New York Intellectual], UK Research and Innovation</ref>

Other antisemitic dog whistles in German language sources include bemoaning the huge influence of ("certain people"<ref>https://books.google.de/books?id=9XgsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=gewisse+Kreise+an+der+Ostk%C3%BCste&source=bl&ots=_6odj0ZiLb&sig=d5Hai8nkYbJMsjNxoowgFbsA-Xc&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMIofPS4ajFxwIVy9QaCh1ERA_D#v=onepage&q=gewisse%20Kreise%20an%20der%20Ostk%C3%BCste&f=false</ref> on) the "East Coast [of the US]". Or more broadly, the term "Coastal elites", while it may not exclusively refer to Jews (it can also be a dog-whistle for liberals residing in coastal states), can also be invoked in reference to Jews<ref>http://www.zeit.de/2007/26/Waldheim</ref><ref>https://books.google.de/books?id=FyqdBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299&lpg=PA299&dq=gewisse+Kreise+an+der+Ostk%C3%BCste&source=bl&ots=uIo3MDhZoW&sig=4JhFVA13yqwhx9Mc_hF8de8jmgY&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0CCwQ6AEwA2oVChMIofPS4ajFxwIVy9QaCh1ERA_D#v=onepage&q=gewisse%20Kreise%20an%20der%20Ostk%C3%BCste&f=false</ref><ref>http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/bei-waldheim-reagierte-oesterreich-trotzig-bei-haider-kann-auslaendische-kritik-helfen-kommentar/118940.html</ref> or an "Israel Lobby" that "stifles debate" or "controls the media".<ref>https://books.google.de/books?id=9XgsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=gewisse+Kreise+an+der+Ostk%C3%BCste&source=bl&ots=_6odj0ZiLb&sig=d5Hai8nkYbJMsjNxoowgFbsA-Xc&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMIofPS4ajFxwIVy9QaCh1ERA_D#v=onepage&q=gewisse%20Kreise%20an%20der%20Ostk%C3%BCste&f=false</ref><ref>https://books.google.de/books?id=9XgsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=gewisse+Kreise+an+der+Ostk%C3%BCste&source=bl&ots=_6odj0ZiLb&sig=d5Hai8nkYbJMsjNxoowgFbsA-Xc&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMIofPS4ajFxwIVy9QaCh1ERA_D#v=onepage&q=gewisse%20Kreise%20an%20der%20Ostk%C3%BCste&f=false</ref><ref>Tanya Cariina Hsu, [http://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-israeli-lobby-works-in-the-united-states/5313557 "How the Isreali Lobby Works in the United States"], ''GlobalResearch''.</ref>
The fact that not all people are able to "decode" dog whistles became evident in a recent court case where the question of whether calling [[Jürgen Elsässer]] a "fiery antisemite" ("glühender Antisemit" in the original German) constitutes slander.<ref>{{cite web |author=Benjamin Weinthal |url=http://www.jpost.com/landedpages/printarticle.aspx?id=379057 |title=German judge sparks outrage, says anti-Semitism was only limited to Nazi period |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=October 17, 2014}}</ref>

More recently, [[triple parentheses]] around a person's name has been used as a dog whistle symbol in internet forums and [[social media]] in order to single out perceived Jewish individuals for harassment.<ref name=mic>{{cite news|last1=Fleishman|first1=Cooper|last2=Smith|first2=Anthony|title=(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online|url=https://mic.com/articles/144228/echoes-exposed-the-secret-symbol-neo-nazis-use-to-target-jews-online#.sS1GX29cQ|accessdate=4 June 2016|publisher=Mic|date=1 June 2016}}</ref>

====Homophobic dog whistles====
{{main|Homophobia}}
For homophobes, pointing out that the opposing political candidate is "single," [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpq-1B_OTbY "never married"], "a lifelong bachelor," [http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2496073 "limp-wristed"], "has no children" if they are married, or "flounced" from a debate, is a dog whistle term intended to send a signal to homophobes that others will miss. Similarly, candidates who wish to let their voters know that they are against [[gay rights]] will often say they support "[[family values]]" or "the institution of marriage".

This sort of dog-whistle talk used to be a lot more common regarding matters of sexuality in general prior to the [[sexual revolution]], as in for example various [[euphemism]]s used in place of openly saying that a single woman was [[pregnant]] or had had an [[abortion]].

====Racist code words against African Americans====
"Thug culture." "Just use the [[n-word]], we all know what you're saying anyway."<ref>Gabrielle Bluestone, [Gawker.com: [http://archive.ph/http://gawker.com/just-call-them-niggers-exasperated-cnn-guest-tells-e-1700812536 archive.ph], [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://gawker.com/just-call-them-niggers-exasperated-cnn-guest-tells-e-1700812536 web.archive.org] "Just Call Them Niggers"]</ref><ref>Anthony Cumia [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/anthony-cumia-host-opie-anthony-unleashes-racist-twitter-tirade-article-1.1853435 Twitter rant]</ref> It comes off like saying black people are dumb while trying not to sound like they are saying black people are dumb. ("If only black people were smart enough to realize how dumb they really are.") Another dog whistle popular on the internet is [[Alt-right glossary#Dindu|'dindus']], short for "didn't do nothin'", which evokes the idea that black people are prone to criminal behaviour, but play up on sob stories to liberal white people.

Another way to complain about minorities without offense is to complain about ghettos, the bad part of town, "urban crime", etc. Or if one's a [[politician]], "fixing" the impoverished areas of a city will do the trick (alternatively, "cleaning up our streets"). Particularly in the Midwest, it's common for people to mock places like Detroit, Cleveland, and the South Side of [[Chicago]], as it sounds innocent to the untrained ear.

In addition, since the [[civil rights movement]] rendered open [[racism]] in the United States anathema (or, at least, it had), dog-whistle terms such as "community organizers"{{efn|Thank you so very, very much, [[Sarah Palin]], for letting us know what a [[sociopath]] you are.}} and "[[welfare queen]]" have become widely known as semi-opaque terms referring to people (usually [[African-American]], always underclass) who [[Propaganda|propagandists]] want you to believe are stirring up trouble and abusing the system. "Quotas" is a semi-opaque way of signaling opposition to [[affirmative action]] or other efforts to achieve gender or racial parity (in areas such as highest educational attainment, proportional political representation, wages, etc.) without coming right out and directly saying it. The conservative obsession with idleness and loafing used to be a dog whistle, but has become so commonplace in the Republican and [[Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] parties that people under age 40 who parrot it don't realize this.<ref>Ian Haney López, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qibFwUNDZX4 "Dog Whistle Politics"] at TEDxUOregon".</ref> They've become tone deaf to the racial overtones to the point that they don't realize it actually is racist, they just think it's a good idea.<ref>Gary Anderson, [http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-schiff-more-racist-economics-from-a-libertarian-2011-10 "Peter Schiff: More Racist Economics From A Libertarian"], ''Business Insider.'' ("It is a scam because fostering racism is racism. If you set up racist policies you are fostering racism. Most normal people understand that, but Libertarians are far from normal.")</ref>

===Particular examples===
====Abolition of birthright citizenship====
Talk of abolishing [[birthright citizenship]] (the [[Fourteenth Amendment]] in the [[United States]]), along with other rhetoric on [[illegal immigration]], is used to appeal to racists who are mad about brown and black people being in 'Murica at all – though this is less dog whistle and more tuba, as the paper-thin pretense is almost discarded.<ref>Patrick Howell O'Neill, [http://www.dailydot.com/politics/donald-trump-white-supremacists-support/ "Donald Trump is winning over the white supremacist vote"]</ref>

====Alarmist====
"Alarmist" is a common [[global warming]] [[denialism|denialist]] dog-whistle to refer to anyone who wants to implement policies that aim to reduce the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> we put into the atmosphere. Referring to oneself as being a "climate realist" also qualifies. While true alarmism does indeed exist, it is extremely rare and has virtually no political influence currently.

====All Lives Matter====
"[[Black Lives Matter#"But don't all lives matter?"|All lives matter]]" is a common retort to [[Black Lives Matter]]. It is a conservative rejection of the acknowledgment of police brutality and ethnic violence that is the purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is often used by many as a cover-up for "white power."<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/joshua-ostroff/all-lives-matter_b_10862340.html This Is What You Mean When You Say, Tweet Or Sing 'All Lives Matter'] by Joshua Ostroff (07/13/2016 05:47am EDT | Updated July 15, 2016) ''Huffington Post''.</ref>

====America First====
"America First" is a dog whistle for anti-immigration and [[xenophobic]] politics in the United States.<ref name=churchwell>"America First" by Sarah Churchwell. In: ''Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past'', edited by Kevin M. Kruse & Julian E. Zelizer (2022) Basic Books. ISBN 1541601394. Pages 69-84.</ref>{{rp|70}} The origins of the term date back to the anti-Catholic [[Know Nothing]]s of the 1850s, but the term has recurred at various times to express [[bigotry]] and xenophobia toward different targets (by [[Woodrow Wilson]] in 1915, the [[KKK]] in the 1920s, the America First Committee of 1940-1941, and [[Pat Buchanan]] in 2000).<ref name=churchwell/>{{rp|71-81}} This dog whistle was resurrected most recently by [[Donald Trump]],<ref name=churchwell/>{{rp|69,82}} The America First Congressional Caucus ([[Matt Gaetz]], [[Pat Buchanan]], and [[Paul Gosar]]),<ref name=churchwell/>{{rp|82-84}} and [[Nick Fuentes]]' America First podcast.<ref name=churchwell/>{{rp|83-84}} 

====Anointed====
{{main|Anointing}}
"Anointed" is a dog whistle term for [[speaking in tongues]], [[name it and claim it]], [[faith healing]], and other fringe practices, intended to be understood by [[Pentecostal]]s but not by the general public. It is a way of saying "we believe in and practice the Pentecostal beliefs" without openly admitting it.

====Balance the budget====
To cut public services and aid to the vulnerable. Notably, this ''never'' involves [[tax]]ing billionaires and enforcing existing tax laws on them. This predominantly-[[Republican]]/[[libertarian]] aim is beloved by undereducated people (the Right's major voter base these days) who don't understand that this would directly impact and harm them.

====Biological reality====
Used by various groups who claim that [[biological]] [[science]] sides with them, even if their understanding of science is oversimplified, outdated, or irrelevant to the topic at hand. Most commonly used to defend [[discrimination]] and/or justify [[prejudice]]s such as [[sexism]], [[racism]], [[homophobia]], [[transphobia]], and [[ableism]].

====Cultural enrichment====
This is a phrase used by [[white supremacy|white supremacists]] to refer to works of fiction that portray people of color, [[LGBT]] people, and women in a positive light and as a snarl word against the above-mentioned.

====Ethics in games journalism====
{{main|Gamergate}}
Gamergate is possibly the clearest example ever of neatly wrapping a [[Antifeminism|raving]] [[MRA|bunch]] [[Neoreactionary|of toxic]] [[Alt-right|nuttery]] under a neat code phrase. Who could be against [[ethics]]?!

====Family values/Pro-family====
{{main|1=Family values|3=Pro-family}}
Broadly interpreted as homophobia ([[Irony|making many purported "family values" advocates rather "''anti''-family"]], [[Same-sex marriage|since they are, e.g., for not allowing people to marry and start a family, if they happen to have the same plumbing as their desired spouse]]) and [[misogyny]] (e.g. of the "[[Kinder, Küche, Kirche]]"-kind of type or worse), but is essentially actively [[Discrimination|discriminating]] against most "alternative" lifestyles or anything remotely "non-traditional" (even though the supposedly-traditional, or [[nuclear family]], of "one man, one woman, two sweet kids, a dog and a picket fence" ideal has little to no basis in historical [[reality]]).

====Gender-critical====
{{main|Trans-exclusionary radical feminism}}
In theory, it's a term for [[feminism]] that is critical of [[gender]] roles and their impact on society. In practice, it's a code word for [[trans-exclusionary radical feminism]], and is often used as a euphemism for that. The term evolved out of "trans-critical", which was itself an attempted response to the term "TERF".<ref>Hannah McCann and Lucy Nicholas (February 18, 2019). [https://insidestory.org.au/gender-troubles/ "Gender troubles"]. ''Inside Story''.</ref> But "trans-critical" is much less effective as a dog whistle, so it was largely abandoned in favor of this.

====Government handout====
Any money the government gives to causes you don't deem worthy. Often used by Republicans as a not-so-subtle racist dog whistle, similar to "welfare queens". Subsidies that the speaker does not oppose, like farm subsidies, veterans' benefits, or federal money transfers to money-losing "red states"{{efn|Almost all "[[Red state|red states]]" are net takers of federal money, whereas noted liberal bastions like [[New York]] and [[California]] pay way more money to DC than they get back.}} are never called "handouts", nor are the government's enormous subsidies to big business.

====Health freedom/medical freedom/pro-vaccine safety/parents' right to choose====
{{main|Health freedom}}
Many [[Anti-vaccination movement|anti-vaccination]] groups and figures deny that they are "anti-vaccine" and instead hide behind more benign terms such as "pro-vaccine safety", "parents' right to choose", and "health freedom" as well as [[shill gambit|invoking]] [[Big Pharma]]. These tropes frequently appear when there are laws dealing with non-medical exemptions from vaccines, as these people fear [[government]] takeover and forcing children to vaccinate and giving them [[autism]] just as how the [[Godwin's Law|Jews were persecuted during the Holocaust]].

====Intelligent design====
{{main|Intelligent design}}
The ID movement began as a way to [[secular|secularize]] creationism; people are happy with a "design hypothesis" but less happy when it's overtly religious. Although ID claims to be a "scientific" way of thinking, rather than just a code word, the fact that it's considered by the scientific community as identical to creationism qualifies it as a mere code word. The appearance of "[[cdesign proponentsists]]" in the "textbook" ''[[Of Pandas and People]]'', clearly a sloppy attempt to replace "creationists" with "design proponents", is generally considered the smoking gun, though a somewhat unnecessary one given the existence of things like the [[Wedge Document]].

====Judicial activism====
{{main|Judicial activism}}
Any time judges make a ruling that the speaker, usually but not necessarily [[conservative]], disapproves of, this includes sentencing with the average punishment (E.G. [[Greta Thunberg]] being fined for protests led some to claim judicial activism despite fines being the normal punishment for protests). Typically, this means constitutional reasoning that the speaker finds implausible or at odds with the intent of the authors of said [[constitution]], although in many cases the speaker has not actually read the judge's ruling.

====Just label it/Right to know/Anti-GMOs====
{{main|Genetically modified food}}
The anti-[[GMO]] movement has notably used [[rhetoric]] around [[Just asking questions|"informing" people]] as dog whistles. "Just label it" and "right to know" are frequent rallying cries used, despite many leaders in the movement admitting that the push for GMO labelling is nothing more than a tactic for the complete elimination of the practice of genetic engineering in the food industry. A more egregious example would be the co-opting of the latter phrase by the organization US Right To Know, which is actually an [[organic food|organic]] industry [[front group]] that has been more focused on [[Kevin Folta#Accusations of conflict of interest|harassing scientists]] than giving the public valuable information.

====Make America Great Again====
The slogan of [[Donald Trump]]'s 2016 and 2024 successful presidential campaigns refers to what his voter base views as "great" (i.e., a White, Christian, heteropatriarchal, Anglo-Saxon past, like a 1950s Leave it to Beaver-esque America).

====Male-friendly content====
This and similar terms have been cropping up increasingly amongst [[MRA]] forums and rants about feminists. It's basically code for [[rape]] jokes and threats about [[domestic violence]].

====Open mind/do your own research====
{{main|1=Open mind|3=Do your own research}}
Usually when this is used as an [[escape hatch]], either to denigrate an opponent as supposedly "closed minded", or possibly a euphemism for "why won't you agree with me?!" — often used in conjunction with '''"decide for yourself"''', which basically means "if you don't decide the same thing as me, you need to open your mind".

====Parents' rights====
The use of the term "parents' rights" with regard to [[public schools]] in the United States has become a dog whistle for ''some'' parents' rights: conservative white [[heterosexual]] [[cis]] parents who don't want their [[children]] to read about comprehensive [[sex education]], [[gender]], or the history of non-white people. Glenn Youngkin successfully exploited this dog whistle when he ran for governor of [[Virginia]] in 2021.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/27/politics/republicans-education-suburbs-democrats-virginia-governor-race/index.html Democrats fight back as Republicans target education in push for suburbs] by Stephen Collinson (6:38 AM EDT, Wed October 27, 2021) ''CNN''.</ref>

====Patriot====
{{main|Patriot}}
Patriot is a term used by [[Sovereign citizen]]s to self-identify. Apparently you can't be patriotic unless you perform the [[Pseudolaw|voodoo rituals]] that will allegedly remove yourself from Federal jurisdiction.

====Physical removal====
While this could mean exile or deportation, it is sometimes used by [[far-right]] extremists to mean murdering political opponents or people of other races. Fortunately, usually a fantasy among the online far right, but can sometimes be used literally, e.g. in the manifesto of the [[Christchurch terrorist attacks|Christchurch terrorist in 2019]].

====Pornography====
{{see also|Alt-right glossary#Groomer}}

While it is sometimes used to refer to actual opposition to porn, including [[Pornography#Porn and feminism|feminist criticism of it]], rhetoric about "the evils of [[pornography]]" is often a dog whistle used by [[Homophobia|homo-]], [[Biphobia|bi-]], and [[Transphobia|transphobes]] to describe [[LGBT rights]]. It can also be used more broadly for the societal change brought about by the [[sexual revolution]], including [[abortion]], comprehensive [[sex education]], [[contraception]], non-procreative sex, and [[sex-positivity]]. Both variants seek to incite a [[moral panic]] about the permissive society, and are often combined with "[[protecting the children]]".

When anti-porn is used as a code word, books acknowledging that [[Homosexuality|gay]] and [[Transgender|trans people]] exist is equated with providing hardcore porn to children, women who refuse to conform to traditional [[Feminist glossary#Gender role|gender roles]] or are open about enjoying sex are labeled as "sluts," trans people living openly is denounced as [[gender ideology]], and anyone offering information about contraception or help to survivors of sexual violence is lumped in with sex criminals. The anti-LGBT variant of this features in [[Project 2025]], which calls for "pornography" to be banned and "pornographers" to be jailed. From the foreword to their manifesto:<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/13/project-2025-porn]</ref>

{{quotebox|Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology … is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.}}

====Preemptive strike====
Refers to an unprovoked attack, made to sound like it is more justified.

====Pro-choice/pro-life/Dred Scott Decision====
{{main|1=Pro-choice|3=Pro-life}}
These can mean a number of different things depending on who says it, but in general, bringing up the idea of "choice" is used to [[Demonization|demonize]] an opponent as "anti-choice", and by extension "anti-[[freedom]]". For example, pro-choice leads to the idea that anti-abortion campaigners are against a woman's right to control their fertility, and choice is also brought up by [[vaccine hysteria|anti-vaxxers]] when they know that their claims can't be backed up by evidence — they must be given a choice of whether to take a vaccine ("health freedom" or "medical freedom"), and evidence and benefits are irrelevant. Similarly, "pro-life" is used to insinuate that proponents of legalized [[abortion]] not only approve of abortion, but approve of [[death]] and [[murder|killing]] as well.

Another example is when pro-life activists talk about the "Dred Scott Decision". Among them, ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' is analogous to ''[[Dred Scott v. Sandford]]'', in that it keeps [[fetus]]es from having any rights. However, since ''Roe v. Wade'' is popular, and Dred Scott is not, a politician (or potential [[Supreme Court]] Justice) can talk about ''Dred Scott'' when they are really talking about ''Roe v. Wade''.

====Radical Islam====
{{main|Islamism}}
Roughly translates in reality as ''all'' of Islam, radical or otherwise. "Combating radical Islam" is usually used in place of "[[Ann Coulter|let's invade their countries and convert them to Christianity]]", or worse, "[[Nuke Mecca]]". The misuse of this term has, unfortunately, made it difficult for those who wish to combat ''only'' radical or [[fundamentalist]] [[Islam]] (read: people with an actual functional moral code).

====Recognize the enemy====
Using [[Racial profiling|profiling]] to weed out who a [[terrorist]] is, ''i.e.'', do they look [[Muslim]]? Essentially code for "Round up the ragheads."

====Religious freedom/religious liberty====
{{main|Religious freedom}}
The "freedom" to continue withholding basic rights from the LGBTQ community or anyone else whose existence one feels offended by. Not to be confused with [[freedom of religion]] (though the people using this code word hope you'll make that mistake).

====Right to work (or recently, the even more Orwellian "economic freedom")====
{{main|1=Right-to-work law|3=George Orwell}}
Used to put a warm, fuzzy glow on policies aimed at busting [[union]]s and obliterating workplace safety and employee rights. These are particularly nasty examples, as they're carefully crafted to appeal to the people they hurt most, like unemployed and under-employed blue-collar workers. The upshot of such laws is often to create or exacerbate a [[negative externality]], wherein the owners gain greater profit at the workers' expense.<ref>[https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1462&context=clr Rights In Common: A Deconstruction Of Political Speech, Agency Fee Structures, And The Union As Commons After Janus v. Fee Structures, And The Union As Commons After Janus v. AFSCME AFSCME] by Susannah Maltz (2018) ''City University of New York Law Review'' 21(2):285-325.</ref>

====Secure the border====
{{main|Secure the border}}
In a similar vein to 'right to work', a euphemism used in the U.S. for securing the ''[[Mexican]]'' border so as to keep out "racial undesirables"; the [[Canadian]] border is never mentioned (or extremely rarely and only during diatribes about the northern neighbor of the US being supposedly [[Red-baiting|Communist, Liberal, or what-not]]).

====Strong national defense====
{{See also|Nuke Mecca}}
Often used by [[neoconservative|neoconservatives]] as a euphemism for "bombing the shit out of uppity foreign countries", since [[neocons]] pretend to be doing this in furtherance of [[human rights]] and cannot say that openly. It also refers to increasing military spending, often exponentially.

====School choice====
{{main|School choice}}
Getting around [[desegregation]], while also making sure little Billy or little Suzy don't learn science or history in school and grows up to be a [[Anti-intellectualism|good stupid]] little conservative.

====States' rights====
{{main|States' rights}}
This is the granddaddy of modern-day American dog whistles, growing out of racist opposition to the [[Supreme Court]] decision on ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', and eventually spawned the Republican [[Southern Strategy]] (and thus the ruination of any claim to actual morality the Republican Party could possibly hold). The best known example of this is the love some older [[conservative]]s have for "states' rights". When [[segregation]] became socially unacceptable, many old pro-segregationists began instead calling for "states' rights", meaning of course the right of the individual states to segregate and [[Discrimination|discriminate]] (or, in the pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] American South, enforce [[slavery]]). Since then, many [[civil rights]] leaders have been able to show the connections behind the phrase, but that doesn't stop [[hard-right]] [[Ron Paul|Ron]]/[[Rand Paul]] supporters from continuing to use it. These days, it's used by people in [[red state]]s to justify tighter [[immigration]] law (i.e. [[racial profiling]]) and toying with ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' by restricting [[abortion]]s. Interestingly enough, even the most fervent states' rights apologists become [[Hypocrisy|eerily silent]] when it comes to Colorado legalizing [[pot]] or (in the 1990s and early 2000s) [[gay marriage]]. Which of course parallels what the Antebellum South did: As long as they had the political power to do so, the states' rights of the Northern states did not concern them when it came to enforcing "fugitive slave" laws that often ended up enslaving free black Northerners.<ref group=note>Have we pointed out that right-wingers are evil often enough yet? Because they're evil.</ref>

====Terrorist====
{{main|Terrorism}}
Used by every bad government ever to defend some kind of likely bad action that they've done. If it's a [[war]], the government will call its (usually non-state) opponents terrorists, regardless of how moderate they are or whether they target civilians. See [[Syria]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Turkey]], and the [[Uighur genocide]] for prime examples.

====Tough on crime====
{{main|Crime}}
"Three strikes" laws, rounding up all those 
uppity negroes
 [[War on Drugs|non-violent drug offenders]], and generally everything that has led to the high rate of incarceration in the US, all the while sending profits to [[private prison]]s. Using [[capital punishment]] despite overwhelming evidence that it doesn't actually work as a crime deterrent.

====Voter fraud====
{{main|Voter fraud}}
"Voter fraud" is often used by Republicans to refer to 
darkies
 minority voters, who predominately vote Democratic, to give justification for [[Voter ID laws|laws that make it harder for those voters to vote]]. Since actual voter fraud is incredibly rare in the United States (less than ''one-one thousandth of one percent'' of all votes cast, and most of it actually favors Republicans), it's rather obvious what this term really means when a Republican uses it.<ref group=note>Basically "we will do literally anything, no matter how immoral and depraved, to seize and hold political power so we can use it to gain all the money and destroy everyone who isn't us". Did we mention that Republicans are evil?</ref>

==See also==
*[[Alt-right glossary]] — much of their language is used to conceal their actual meanings as a form of [[bait-and-switch]]
*[[Euphemism]]
*[[Loaded language]]
*[[TERF glossary]] — similarly to the alt-right, TERFs use a variety of code words to hide their true intentions from unsuspecting readers
*[[Weasel word]] — not ''quite'' the same thing, but similar in purpose in obfuscating the true content of a speech or argument in order to facilitate undeserved acceptance<ref group=note>Weasel words grant illusionary strength to a weak argument, whereas code words grant illusionary respectability to a repugnant argument.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Political_Code_Words Source Watch &mdash; Political Code Words]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Euphemisms]]
[[Category:Fallacies of ambiguity]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Political strategery]]
[[Category:Political terms| ]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Categories: Euphemisms, Fallacies of ambiguity, Language, Political strategery, Political terms, Politics, Religion