Glossary of Dogwhistles

Dogwhistles are coded expressions that simultaneously convey one meaning to a broad audience and a second one, often hateful or provocative, to a narrow in-group.\ \ This glossary contains 340 English-language dogwhistles and over 1,000 surface forms (morphological variants and closely-related terms), mostly from the U.S. context. Each dogwhistle is labeled with its signaled persona and covert meaning, along with its type and register. For more details, please refer to the [ACL 2023 paper](https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a5731b32060909bfc8848fa5f7e1e14ca3b53240).

#GenderWooWoo
_Surface forms_: #GenderWooWoo; #genderwoowoo; gender woo woo
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people want to escape reality\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A reactionary term, which gained traction in mid-late 2020, that mocks the concept of gender as well as transgender people (who support gender)- but not trans-exclusionary pseudoscience and denial of scientific evidence that directly contradicts the classic transphobic narrative that, in the reactionaries' view, "transgenders just want to escape biological [sic] reality" (like brain similarities between trans women and cis women for example). Because apparently, promoting anti-scientific attitudes and conspiracy theories is only bad if trans people and their allies are (allegedly) doing it.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221126161023/https://twitter.com/feministbirther/status/1263383086751866880))\ \ "So it’s #GenderWooWoo day and I’d like to share Kylie who pretended to be pregnant then pretended to have a stillbirth. Then tried to raise money for a doll to help him grieve. He was in a pg & birth group where women supported him & some were thrown out for telling the truth."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 21, 2020
#Milk
_Surface forms_: #Milk; #milk; #MilkTwitter
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal where milk is allegory for white racial purity\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ For members of the far-right, dairy milk represents strength of body and ties into their ideas of masculinity. Conversely, soy and other forms of milk have come to symbolize weakness and effeminacy. In our analysis, we found that milk has been used as a thinly veiled allegory for racial purity. Several prominant figures from the white supremacist movement including Richard Spencer added milk bottle emojis to their Twitter profiles. The hashtags #MilkTwitter embraced and celebrated traditional gender norms and white-dominated patriarchy, while making fun of multiculturalism and feminism. Scholars such as Freeman (2013) contend that the contemporary white supremacist movement appropriated the long association of milk with the intellect. She points out that since the consumption of liberal amounts of milk and its products are associated with having a scientific mind and excelling in other intellectual activities, white supremacists appropriated it to convey their superiority among the racial groups.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://theconversation.com/how-the-alt-right-uses-milk-to-promote-white-supremacy-94854))\ \ "I'm very proud of my mutant power of digesting lactose well into adulthood thank you very much. #MilkTwitter #DownWithTheVeganAgenda 🥛"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 30, 2017
#WomenWontWheesht
_Surface forms_: #WomenWontWheesht; #womenwontwheesht; women won't wheesht
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are silencing cis women\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A hashtag that first emerged among Scottish TERFs before spreading throughout the UK and beyond. "Wheesht" is Scottish slang meaning "shush" or "be quiet." The hashtag was started after a Scottish TERF was charged with malicious communications for tweeting about about how she'd left a suffragette ribbon (interpreted by many as a noose due to the poor quality of the photo) near a Glasgow television studio where an actor known to support trans rights works. In one particularly hilarious example, TERF author Jessica Taylor tweeted pictures of how she allegedly "found" this hashtag scrawled in the sand on a beach during a morning walk with a stick in her hand.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220411085507/https://twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1513440353537380356))\ \ "I had the best day yesterday. Thank you ⁦@jk_rowling for bringing together so many of the women who’ve helped sustain each other through difficult times. #SisterhoodIsPowerful. #WomenWontWheesht"\ \ _Speaker_: Joanna Cherry (Scottish Member of Parliament)\ _Date_: April 11, 2022
109
_Surface forms_: 109;110
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Antisemitic signal that is a reference to number of countries Jews have been expelled from\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ 109 stands for the 109 locations that Jews were alleged to have to have been expelled from, and of course implies it was their own fault every time. Nazis usually conflate these locations with 'countries'. One may also see a 110, meaning that Jews need to be kicked out from another country.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/ZNNpatriot/status/1559909105761935364))\ \ ""Wow 109 countries, and they consider us as cattle?" "That's right Sneako, just wait till you hear about the blood libel and black cube of saturn""\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 17, 2022
1290
_Surface forms_: 1290; 1290 AD
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Antisemitic signal that is a reference to the year Jews were expelled from England\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ 1290 was the year that Jews were expelled from England by King Edward I. Jews were not allowed to return until Oliver Cromwell readmitted Jews to Britain in 1656.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/TurnerDiaries/status/525824441486671873))\ \ "I think that ur Marxist police state apparatus is appalling & that u shud be prosecuted under the Edict of Expulsion Act 1290"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 24, 2014
13%
_Surface forms_: 13%; 13/50; 13/52; 13/90
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Racist signal that is a reference to the false statistic that African Americans are only 13% of the US population but commit a disproprotionate number of violent crimes \ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ 13%, 13/50, or 13/52 is a racist dogwhistle for African American people, in reference to the supposed statistic that "despite being only 13% of the population, African Americans commit approximately 50% of homicides in the USA" or "despite making up only 13% of the population, African Americans make up 52% of all homicides in the United States". Similarly, 13/90 refers to a related claim that 90% of all violent interracial crimes in the U.S. are committed by Blacks against Whites. Never mind that these figures are decades old, and that based on numbers arrested, African Americans have gone from committing 49.3% (56,909/115,495) of all violent crimes in 1995 to 37% (172,980/470,890) of violent crimes in 2019, showing that this meme is out-dated and currently should be "13/37". Since these statistics are based on arrests, not convictions, they are subject to bias from racial profiling. One study estimated that as much as 16-33% of arrests of racial minorities could be due to racial profiling in areas that have not had police reform.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/Real_KeithBone/status/1558052787690283010))\ \ "Because they know the truth. 13/50 [in response to tweet about how teachers expect Black children to misbehave]"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 12, 2022
1488
_Surface forms_: 14/88; 1488; 88; HH; 14 words
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal that refers to the 14 Words by white supremacist David Lane and the number 88, or HH, as code for Heil Hitler\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ 1488 or 14/88 is a reference to two racist concepts, the Fourteen Words created by white supremacist David Lane ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children," or more rarely "Because the beauty of the White Aryan woman must not perish from the earth") and 88 (Which originally referenced Lane's "88 Precepts" but now represents two H's (8th letter of the alphabet) to make "HH", for Heil Hitler.) It is claimed that the 14 words were inspired by a specific sentence from Volume 1, Chapter 8 of Mein Kampf which is exactly 88 words in length, though neither Lane nor his publisher Fourteen Word Press ever claimed this and it is probably a coincidence.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/07/08/twitter-gave-free-rein-jack-posobiec-publish-antisemitic-hate-and-disinformation))\ \ "Wow its already got 1400 comments in the last 88 minutes"\ \ _Speaker_: Jack Posobiec (alt-right political activist and television correspondent)\ _Date_: September 6, 2016
23/16
_Surface forms_: 23/16; 16/23; 2316; 1623
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal that stands for White Power based on letter position in the alphabet\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ For WP=White Power, based on letter position in the alphabet, similar to 88=HH. Sometimes also 16/23, which as well as being a transparent disguise, also relates to "peckerwood", formerly black slang for whites now used as self-identification by white supremacists
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/captaincadet1/status/1325850783313620992))\ \ "🤣🤣🤣hoe is right get ready for them too rule the 25th amendment soon though they're trying to always pull the wool over our eyes but we see the real truth he's liberaltards Oi Oi 1488 & 2316"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 9, 2020
41%
_Surface forms_: 41%; 41; 41 percent
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic reference to statistic that 41% of trans people have attempted suicide, often used to imply trans people should kill themselves\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ According to a National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 41% of trans people have attempted suicide at some point in their lives.Transphobes often misrepresent this statistic as the percentage of trans people who have died by suicide (which is interesting considering 95% of suicide attempts end in survival) and then use it to imply trans people should kill themselves.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/BioFrTsukiChan/status/1502388415509282816))\ \ "Wow Neil, your grandma sounds terribly transphobic. I hope you did what was necessary and threatened to 41 yourself until she agreed to stop saying words you don’t like and let you wear her panties in peace "\ \ _Speaker_: Parody/satirical account pretending to be trans \ _Date_: March 11, 2022
6MWE
_Surface forms_: 6MWE; 6 million wasn't enough; six million wasn't enough
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Antisemitic signal that stands for 6 million wasn't enough, referring to the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust \ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ 6MWE is an abbreviation for "6 million wasn't enough", a reference to the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Shirts bearing this acronym have been seen at Proud Boys events.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/Snacks64670369/status/1557732679386562562))\ \ "damn the shirt is fire, 6MWE btw"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 11, 2022
A Leppo
_Surface forms_: A Leppo
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Libertarian\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Operation Google is an ongoing attempt by alt-righters to circumvent Google's anti-racial-slur policies. As such, Operation Google is a code-word list of slurs. A Leppo secretly refers to a libertarian.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/BrigidCovey/status/1156883121771618304))\ \ "The tweet above screenshotted from a Leppo stream is CLEARLY a fake hoax phony Utube account with no content but a crap photoshop of Lestat in a dress intended to impersonate Lestat and fool others who didn't go look at the channel. Again, fake phony fraudulent account."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 1, 2019
abolish birthright citizenship
_Surface forms_: abolish birthright citizenship; abolition of birthright citizenship; end birthright citizenship
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Latino\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: We should have fewer Latinos in the US\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1345754037992361984))\ \ "If we truly love America, we must end birthright citizenship by fraud in the United States."\ \ _Speaker_: Matt Gaetz (Florida Representative)\ _Date_: January 3, 2021
absent fathers
_Surface forms_: absent fathers; absentee fathers; absent father; absentee father; lack of fathers
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black men are irresponsible\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ “Absentee fathers” only seem to come in one color: Black. Though there are fathers of all races and ethnicities who have a minimal presence in their childrens’ lives, “absentee” isn’t used to describe most of them. This racialized term uniquely targets Black fathers, inaccurately (and often purposely) signaling that they willfully abandon their children.
Example context (in [_Interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham_](https://theweek.com/articles/552308/deadbeat-black-dads-arent-cause-baltimores-riots))\ \ "There are so many things we can talk about. The breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of sort of a moral code in our society. This isn't just a racial thing-- it goes across racial boundaries"\ \ _Speaker_: Rand Paul (Kentucky Senator)\ _Date_: April 28, 2015
actual woman
_Surface forms_: actual woman; actual women
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal that the speaker is a cis woman, with implication that trans women aren't "real women"\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Self-description by TERFs, because they think they get to decide who's an actual woman and who isn't.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1552033669262577665))\ \ "Lia Thomas was beaten out of the “Woman of The Year” Award by an actual woman. How unwoke!!!!"\ \ _Speaker_: Tomi Lahren (conservative radio and talk show host) \ _Date_: July 26, 2022
adult human female
_Surface forms_: adult human female; adult human females
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal that the speaker is a cis woman, with implication that trans women aren't "real women"\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Adult human female" is a slogan and self-identification commonly used by TERFs. The phrase, based on the most succinct dictionary definitions of the word "woman," is an example of the argumentum ad dictionarium fallacy. The implication is that biological sex is inherent to womanhood because some dictionary definitions of "woman" include the word "female." Some have drawn parallels between the "adult human female" meme and the "It's Okay to Be White" campaign started by white supremacists on 4chan in 2017. The goal of that campaign, as described by the Anti-Defamation League, was to "choose an ostensibly innocuous and inoffensive slogan, put that slogan on fliers bereft of any other words or imagery, then place the fliers in public locations" under the assumption that "liberals" would "react negatively to such fliers and condemn them or take them down, thus 'proving' that liberals did not even think it was 'okay' to be white." In a similar fashion, TERFs have weaponized the negative reaction that "adult human female" campaigns have received from those aware of their transphobic nature, using it to frame themselves as victims of cancel culture and oversensitive SJWs offended by the word "woman." TERFs were enraged when UK police investigated stickers with the "adult human female" slogan as hate speech in 2019. Such backlash is frequently cited by TERFs as "proof" of their conspiracy theory that gender-inclusive language is somehow a trans lobby plot to "erase women."
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/helenlewis/status/1558063174200528897))\ \ "Faintly hysterical at the fact that The Globe has reassigned the gender of Elizabeth I, a ruler who literally gave a speech about being an Adult Human Female (and how that didn't stop her having the heart and stomach of a king)."\ \ _Speaker_: Helen Lewis (journalist)\ _Date_: August 12, 2022
AFAB trans woman
_Surface forms_: AFAB trans woman; AFAB transgender woman; AFAB trans women; AFAB transgender women
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic joke that a cis woman can claim to identify as a trans woman\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ This can be one of several things: A word salad made of random terms to imply that gender-identity labels are nonsensical or meaningless, a non-sequential set of labels used to deliberately misgender trans men as women, attaching the label "trans" to words for their sex assigned at birth (compare to "trans-identified female"), or, since TERFs have realized this construction is self-contradictary, the joke "identity" of a cis woman who identifies as a trans woman (see bio-trans).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/zaelefty/status/1458648435192733698))\ \ "This is stunning and brave, from an assigned female at birth (AFAB) trans woman."\ \ _Speaker_: Zach Eliiot (author)\ _Date_: Novermber 10, 2021
affirmative action
_Surface forms_: affirmative action
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White people are victims of racial mistreatment\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dog_Whistle_Politics/20QSDAAAQBAJ))\ \ The Reagan administration also used--indeed, created-- affirmative action as a wedge issue. Affirmative action emerged in the late 1960s out of efforts to directly foster integration in schools and workplaces [and was broadly supported by the public into the 1980s]. Reagan set out to not only roll back but politicize affirmative action, and to spearhead this effort he appointed William Bradford Reynolds to head the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department...Under Reynolds, the Justice Department began highly public campaigns to oppose affirmative action, presenting numerous arguments to the Supreme Court that race-conscious remedies amounted to discrimination against innocent whites. [Reagan's] broadsides against affirmative action constituted a form of dog whistle politics...In 1984, when Reagan won re-election in a landslide, the GOP platform had a new plank on affirmative action: ‘We will resist efforts to replace equal rights with discriminatory quota systems and preferential treatment. Quotas are the most insidious form of discrimination: reverse discrimination against the innocent.’ The document said nothing about race directly, but obviously ‘the innocent’ meant innocent whites. Attacking affirmative action provided a way for the GOP to constantly force race–and the party’s defense of white interests– into the national conversation.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1486685738775293967))\ \ "Joe Biden will nominate a black woman for the Supreme Court because he said he would select someone based on race and sex, and then we will be told that noting that this is definitionally affirmative action and race discrimination is itself racist. Also, there's a reason Democrats never miss with their SCOTUS picks: they overtly choose wild Leftists. That's the only real qualification. They wouldn't care whether Biden nominated an HLS grad who clerked for Breyer or Cardi B, so long as that person voted reliably Left."\ \ _Speaker_: Ben Shapiro (conservative radio and talk show host)\ _Date_: January 27, 2022
agender
_Surface forms_: agender
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Gender isn't real\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A dog-whistle sometimes used between TERFs. Not to be confused with non-binary or non-malicious uses of agender.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/justz571/status/1291024865873534982))\ \ "The majority of people deny cis because the majority of people do not conform to gender stereotypes. But somehow if you believe in the reality of being female, you have to be cis and cannot object. I am agender and I am a woman because woman is adult human female. I am not cis."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 5, 2020
Aiden
_Surface forms_: Aiden
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans man\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Derogatory term for a transgender man, based on the stereotype that "Aiden" (or similar sounding names e.g. Hayden, Jayden) is a popular choice of name among young trans men. This is sometimes joked about by trans people among themselves, but has been appropriated by TERFs.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/ttaffy629/status/1471793348096704516))\ \ "TRAs always need to get the last word in and need to use these dumb half-baked memes 😂 I have better things to spend my time on lmao keep whining Aiden"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 17, 2021
alarmism
_Surface forms_: alarmism; climate alarmism
_Persona/In-Group_: climate change denier\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: People are overreacting about climate change being a problem\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Concept associated with "alarmist" (see explanation for "alarmist")
Example context (in [_Senate Floor Speech_](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jamesinhofesenatespeechonglobalwarming.htm))\ \ "Recently, advocates of alarmism have grown increasingly desperate to try to convince the public that global warming is the greatest moral issue of our generation. Just last week, the vice president of London's Royal Society sent a chilling letter to the media encouraging them to stifle the voices of scientists skeptical of climate alarmism. During the past year, the American people have been served up an unprecedented parade of environmental alarmism by the media and entertainment industry, which link every possible weather event to global warming. The year 2006 saw many major organs of the media dismiss any pretense of balance and objectivity on climate change coverage and instead crossed squarely into global warming advocacy. "\ \ _Speaker_: James Inhofe (Oklahoma Senator)\ _Date_: September 25, 2006
alarmist
_Surface forms_: alarmist; alarmists; climate alarmist; climate alarmists
_Persona/In-Group_: climate change denier\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Person who is overreacting about climate change, which the speaker does not view as a major problem\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ "Alarmist" is a common global warming denialist dog-whistle to refer to anyone who wants to implement policies that aim to reduce the amount of CO2 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.
Example context (in [_Article from the Heartland Institute (free-market think tank)_](https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/being-a-climate-alarmist-means-never-having-to-admit-youre-wrong))\ \ "A mountain of evidence shows climate alarmists never learn from their mistakes, be they clear misstatements of facts or repeatedly failed prognostications. Why should they? The press lets climate alarmists get away with making more false claims than any other group on any other topic, including the efficacy of the COVID vaccines in keeping people from catching the disease or requiring hospitalization. Climate alarmists have nothing to fear from so-called fact checkers in corporate or social media, because the “fact checkers” are either true believers themselves or fellow beneficiaries of the climate alarm gravy train."\ \ _Speaker_: H. Sterling Burnett (Heartland Institute)\ _Date_: January 13, 2022
All Lives Matter
_Surface forms_: All Lives Matter; #AllLivesMatter; #alllivesmatter; ALM; #ALM
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black lives don't matter\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-offensive-to-say-all-lives-matter-153188))\ \ When the Black Lives Matter motto arose, some people interpreted the phrase as confrontational and divisive. They took it to exclude other races. The phrase “all lives matter” sprang up in response, ostensibly to argue all lives are equal because we are all human beings. However, Black Lives Matter was not intended to mean that other lives do not matter. In a world where Black people are stigmatised, marginalised, and discriminated against, Black Lives Matter simply recognises Black lives matter, too. Responding to “Black Lives Matter” with “all lives matter” derails the specific conversation about racism against Black people. The phrase is seen to dismiss, ignore, or deny these problems — it shuts down this important discussion. US President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other US conservatives like Rudy Guiliani, have used the phrase to criticise the Black Lives Matter movement. Through its use, “all lives matter” has also become associated with white supremacy, far-right nationalism and racism. So, “all lives matter” can be understood as a racist dog whistle — a direct push-back against the Black Lives Matter movement. It is far from an innocent term celebrating the worth of all humanity.
Example context (in [_Interview on CBS Face The Nation _](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-vice-president-mike-pence-on-face-the-nation-june-28-2020/))\ \ "Pence: I've literally met with African American leaders around this country and in the national capital area who've- who made it clear to us they- they want law and order. They- they want peace in our streets. Interviewer: So you won't say black lives matter? Pence: John, I really believe that all lives matter...And that's where the heart of the American people lies. And we're going to continue to stand strong. We're going to continue to stand strong with Americans that- that want to see us come together as a nation. And we're going to carry that message all the way to November and for four more years. "\ \ _Speaker_: Former Vice President Mike Pence\ _Date_: June 28, 2020
alt-right
_Surface forms_: alt-right; alternative right; dissident right
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jefferson-street/articles/2017-08-17/be-aware-of-these-extreme-right-dog-whistles-after-charlottesville))\ \ Enough already. Much of the contemporary conversation has adopted this new epitaph for the extreme right. But this is merely calling an old threat a new, slightly distracting name – and therefore possibly distorting or diluting the impact. Words matter. And so does clarity. As much as people are saying "call it by its name" about the controversial actions by extremists, we should keep this conversation clear and call these actors by their name. Avoid using "alt-right" and eliminate any confusion by calling them "white supremacists" or "racists" or "neo-Nazis" or "extreme right.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/985989690867290113))\ \ "Mike Enoch just got banned from Twitter after getting retweeted by @AnnCoulter . I got wiped from Facebook this weekend. Timing is very important. The Alt-Right is being recognized as THE grounded, authentic anti-war movement in the U.S. For our enemies, that's unacceptable."\ \ _Speaker_: Richard Spencer (neo-Nazi)\ _Date_: April 16, 2018
America First
_Surface forms_: America First; #AmericaFirst
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: We need to protect ourselves from Jewish influence\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/the-top-10-racist-dog-whistles-hidden-in-trumps-state-o-1822600239))\ \ At the center of his foreign policy vision, Donald Trump has put “America First,” a phrase with an anti-Semitic and isolationist history going back to the years before the U.S. entry into World War II. Trump started using the slogan in the later months of his campaign, and despite requests from the Anti-Defamation League that he drop it, he stuck with it. Friday, he embraced the words as a unifying theme for his inaugural address. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land,” Trump said on the Capitol steps. “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America First. America First.” Those same words galvanized a mass populist movement against U.S. entry into the war in Europe, even as the German army rolled through France and Belgium in the spring of 1940. While the America First Committee attracted a wide array of support, the movement was marred by anti-Semitic and pro-fascist rhetoric. Its highest profile spokesman, Charles Lindbergh, blamed American Jews for pushing the country into war. “The British and the Jewish races,” he said at a rally in September 1941, “for reasons which are not American, wish to involve us in the war.” The “greatest danger” Jews posed to the U.S. “lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government,” Lindbergh said.
Example context (in [_Inauguration Speech_](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/full-text-donald-trump-inauguration-speech-transcript-233907))\ \ "From this day forward: a new vision will govern our land, from this day forward, it’s going to be only America first. America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body, and I will never, ever let you down. America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth, and we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels, and railways, all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: January 20, 2017
Amerimutt
_Surface forms_: Amerimutt; La Creatura; Le 56% Face; Der Untermensch; 56%
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Americans aren't really white\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Refers to the claim that the USA is 56% white https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/amerimutt-le-56-face
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/NEW__CALIFORNIA/status/1559017320906772481))\ \ "The Amerimutt cope never ends Your entire countries history and existence is a war machine for Z0g and their plan you are the blueprint You have no history, culture or future outside of z0g you are equivalent of the Soviet Union if it was 10x worse and more evil"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 14, 2022
Amish
_Surface forms_: Amish
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: The perpetrator is exactly the demographic you expect\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Amish is used when the perpetrator of a crime is an "expected" suspect, such as a Muslim for an act of terrorism, African American for a murder, etc. The speaker will make a comment like "must be the Amish," with the intent that by pretending to scapegoat an unlikely suspect, they indicate to their audience that the demographic of the suspect is obvious by the nature of the crime.[80]
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/VahtiKoiraan/status/1263007173245886464))\ \ "I wonder who makes those areas bad? Must be the Amish."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 20, 2020
anchor babies
_Surface forms_: anchor baby; anchor babies
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Latino\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Mexicans are manipulating the immigration system\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/25/on-immigration-the-gop-candidates-are-sinverguenzas/))\ \ It’s shameful how the GOP field has perpetuated the ugly myth of a swarm of Mexican women crossing the border to have their children in this country and manipulate the immigration system — an absurd characterization that’s not supported by the facts. The reality is that American-born babies, who are U.S. citizens, cannot petition for their parents to gain legal immigration status until they are 21 years old. Not exactly the shortcut to citizenship Republicans claim it is. The “anchor baby” narrative is politics at its worst — serving mostly as a Republican dog-whistle, tapping into an implicit racial sentiment that suggests children of color are less than fully American or they’re just a vehicle for gaming the system. It accomplishes nothing other than stoking the unwarranted fear that too many Americans continue to hold about our country’s changing demographics.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1359587985205981187))\ \ "Open a restaurant at full capacity: illegal Sneak across the border, suck the American taxpayer dry, have 2-3 anchor babies, possibly commit or recommit crimes: legal Biden’s America."\ \ _Speaker_: Tomi Lahren (conservative radio and talk show host) \ _Date_: February 10, 2021
anointed
_Surface forms_: anointed; anointing
_Persona/In-Group_: religious\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: I believe in and practice Pentecostal Christian beliefs\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ "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 Pentecostals but not by the general public. It is a way of saying "we believe in and practice the Pentecostal beliefs" without openly admitting it.
Example context (in [_Proclamation_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4979-thanksgiving-day-1982))\ \ "I have always believed that this anointed land was set apart in an uncommon way, that a divine plan placed this great continent here between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth who had a special love of faith and freedom. Our pioneers asked that He would work His will in our daily lives so America would be a land of morality, fairness, and freedom. "\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: September 27, 1982
attacks on or imagery of Jewish financial leaders
_Surface forms_: Janet Yellen; Lloyd Blankfein; George Soros
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control all the money\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-rolls-out-anti-semitic-closing-ad))\ \ From a technical and thematic perspective it’s a well made ad. It’s also packed with anti-Semitic dog whistles, anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Semitic vocabulary. I’m not even sure whether it makes sense to call them dog whistles. The four readily identifiable American bad guys in the ad are Hillary Clinton, George Soros (Jewish financier), Janet Yellen (Jewish Fed Chair) and Lloyd Blankfein (Jewish Goldman Sachs CEO). These are standard anti-Semitic themes and storylines, using established anti-Semitic vocabulary lined up with high profile Jews as the only Americans other than Clinton who are apparently relevant to the story. As you can see by my transcription, the Jews come up to punctuate specific key phrases. Soros: “those who control the levers of power in Washington”; Yellen “global special interests”; Blankfein “put money into the pockets of handful of large corporations.” This is an anti-Semitic ad every bit as much as the infamous Jesse Helms ‘white hands’ ad or the Willie Horton ad were anti-African-American racist ads. Which is to say, really anti-Semitic. You could even argue that it’s more so, given certain linguistic similarities with anti-Semitic propaganda from the 1930s. But it’s not a contest. This is an ad intended to appeal to anti-Semites and spread anti-Semitic ideas. That’s the only standard that really matters. This is intentional and by design. It is no accident. Trump has electrified anti-Semites and racist groups across the country. His own campaign has repeatedly found itself speaking to anti-Semites, tweeting their anti-Semitic memes, retweeting anti-Semites. His campaign manager, Steven Bannon, is an anti-Semite. The Breitbart News site he ran and will continue running after the campaign has become increasingly open in the last year with anti-Semitic attacks and politics.
Example context (in [_Campaign Ad_](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-rolls-out-anti-semitic-closing-ad))\ \ "[Trump closing campaign ad that shows faces of Hillary Clinton, George Soros (Jewish financier), Janet Yellen (Jewish Fed Chair), and Lloyd Blankfein (Jewish Goldman Sachs CEO)] The Trump narration immediately preceding Soros and Yellin proceeds as follows: “The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. For those who control the levers of power in Washington [start Soros] and for the global [start Yellen] special interests [stop Yellen]. They partner with these people [start Clinton] who don’t have your good in mind.” For Blankfein: “It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the [start Blankein] pockets of a handful of large corporations [stop Blankfein] and political entities.”"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: November 6, 2016
attacks on or imagery of Jewish political leaders
_Surface forms_: Sidney Blumenthal; Bernie Sanders; Volodymyr Zelensky
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control world politics\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://forward.com/news/351656/george-soros-and-sidney-blumenthal-were-the-dog-whistles-of-the-second-deba/))\ \ Blumenthal was an aide to President Bill Clinton who became a Republican talking point among those who accused Clinton of mishandling the attacks on the United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya. They said she corresponded with Blumenthal more than with the ambassador who was killed in the attacks, J. Christopher Stevens. He is not a household name, but “Blumenthal” is widely recognizable as Jewish.
Example context (in [_Presidential Debate_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-washington-university-st-louis-missouri))\ \ "“She said she was awake at 3:00 in the morning and she also sent a tweet out at 3:00 in the morning,” Trump said, when asked about why he was tweeting in the middle of the night about the former Miss Universe he called “Miss Housekeeping” because she is Latino. “She said she’ll be awake. Guess what happened. Ambassador Stevens sent 600 requests for help. And the only one she talked to was Sidney Blumenthal who is her friend and not a good guy by the way. So you know, she shouldn’t be talking about that.”"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 9, 2016
autoandrophile
_Surface forms_: AAP; AAPs; autoandrophile; autoandrophiles
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans man\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ See "autoandrophilia"
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/sarahstuartxx/status/1225141264548614144))\ \ "If you’re not incredulous about that, you will be about the data on women who are ‘autoandrophile’. Up to 56% dressed up as men for sexual kicks - because as we all know there's nothing hornier than jeans and T-shirt."\ \ _Speaker_: The Lies They Tell (blogger)\ _Date_: Februrary 5, 2020
autoandrophilia
_Surface forms_: autoandrophilia
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans men are just women who have a fetish for being viewed as men\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A pseudoscientific hypothesis that transgender men who aren't exclusively attracted to women transition because of a fetish for being viewed as males. It is less widespread than the idea of autogynephilia, and some advocates of the autogynephilia theory believe that there's no equivalent in trans men - because they are "women", and women don't have fetishes! But some TERFs insist it does exist, therefore trans men don't real. YouTuber Chase Ross has been cited by TERFs as an autoandrophile because his channel focuses on reviewing sex toys, packers, underwear, etc.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/WomenReadWomen/status/1528579838722060289))\ \ "In 2017, Benestad and Almås published an article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine titled, "Autogynephilia and Autoandrophilia Revisited", which argues that the sexual arousal men experience through transvestic crossdressing should be normalized."\ \ _Speaker_: Women's Voices\ _Date_: May 22, 2022
autogynephile
_Surface forms_: AGP; AGPs; autogynophile; autogynophiles; autogynephile; autogynephiles
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans woman\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ See "autogynephilia"
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220418191437/https://twitter.com/transwidows/status/1506018675811250177))\ \ "Prominent female academics and journalists seem willing to begin talking about AGP now,yet only cite old articles written by AGPs themselves, they don’t acknowledge the many testimonies of trans widows.Why? Are our exes considered more reliable than we are, even by feminists?"\ \ _Speaker_: Trans Widows' Voices (women who split with trans partners)\ _Date_: March 21, 2022
autogynephilia
_Surface forms_: autogynophilia; autogynephilia
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans women are just men who have a fetish for being viewed as women\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A pseudoscientific hypothesis that transgender women who aren't exclusively attracted to men are transitioning purely as a result of a fetish for being viewed as females. This theory, endorsed by J. Michael Bailey and most prevalent between the 1980s and early 2000s, has been recycled by TERFs to further their blatant transmisogyny.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221126182202/https://twitter.com/BlanchardPhD/status/1541750906277965825))\ \ "Trans rights activists have claimed that natal women commonly experience sexual excitement from the simple thought of being women as a way of “normalizing” this phenomenon in AGP men. Research shows autogynephilia is actually rare/nonexistent in women"\ \ _Speaker_: Ray Blanchard (academic)\ _Date_: June 28, 2022
baby daddies
_Surface forms_: baby daddy; baby daddies
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black men are irresponsible\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](jacksonfreepress.com/news/2018/dec/12/governor-talks-criminal-justice-reform-first-step-/))\ \ There is a long-arching stereotype about absent black fathers that Bryant seemed to be alluding to with the "baby daddy" comment. Yet, a Centers for Disease Control study of fathers' engagement found that African American fathers were more likely than white fathers to be engaged with their children's lives. Research shows that media spread myths about absent and disengaged black fathers. Despite the theme of the conference, Bryant also missed an opportunity to delve into the impacts of incarceration on the nuclear family. Fwd.Us found that one in two people in the United States have had an immediate family member incarcerated, one in five had a parent incarcerated, and one in seven had a spouse or co-parent behind bars. As some reporters have put it: many black men are quite literally missing because they are behind bars or suffer from low life expectancies. "For every 100 black women in this age group living outside of jail, there are only 83 black men. Among whites, the equivalent number is 99, nearly parity," data from the New York Times' Upshot show. This became particularly pertinent post-Ferguson, where a police officer shot and killed teenager Michael Brown in broad daylight in 2014, launching years of protest and demands for police reform. In 2015, The New York Times found that of cities with at least 10,000 residents, Ferguson had the single largest proportion of missing black men. Economist Stephen Bronars found that in 2015, there were more than two young black women for each young black man in Ferguson. Researcher Note: baby daddy is also a term used in African American English without the dogwhistled meaning.
Example context (in [_Speech at Mississippi Summit on Criminal Justice Forum_](jacksonfreepress.com/news/2018/dec/12/governor-talks-criminal-justice-reform-first-step-/))\ \ "We all know it starts with the family. I can tell you that child in a home without a father has a better chance of going to prison than the kid down the street whose dad's at home attending to his responsibilities as a father. People might not want to talk about that, but dads in the home most of the time actually works....I said they even changed the name to what you guys are now? Not dads or fathers anymore. What are they? Baby daddies. What a sad commentary for this nation "\ \ _Speaker_: Phil Bryant (Mississippi Governor)\ _Date_: December 11, 2018
baby mama
_Surface forms_: baby mama; baby mamas; baby momma; baby mommas
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black women are irresponsible\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ What’s the difference between having a “blended family” and having “baby daddies” or “baby mamas”? Typically, it’s the race of the family members. These terms have a context-specific meaning within Black culture. But when used by people who are not Black, and especially when used by white people or anyone in an official capacity (such as a newscaster) the meaning changes. These terms, which may masquerade as playful and harmless, have the effect of undermining the seriousness of a relationship or implying lack of personal responsibility, and are especially aimed at women.
Example context (in [_Description displayed in Fox News segment_](https://www.salon.com/2008/06/12/fox_obama/))\ \ "Outraged Liberals: Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama! [referring to Michelle Obama]"\ \ _Speaker_: Fox News\ _Date_: June 12, 2008
Back the Blue
_Surface forms_: #BackTheBlue; back the blue; Back the Blue
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Enforce white supremacy\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.patheos.com/blogs/suspendedinherjar/2021/01/its-about-the-white-supremacy/))\ \ When these white Americans say “Back the Blue,” the implicit statement is actually “Enforce White Supremacy.” We see in the violence at the Capitol just how much these people believe in “backing the blue” when the police (even mildly) attempt to enforce the law against them. One police officer was beaten unconscious and then dragged down the steps by the mob as they used the poles of their American flags to beat him further. Another officer was beaten with a fire extinguisher and died later that night. That officer was himself a Trump supporter, yet that could not save him from the violence of white supremacy that demanded his fealty.
Example context (in [_Campaign rally in Michigan_](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/mike-pence-campaign-speech-transcript-flint-michigan-october-28))\ \ "Now, Joe Biden explains it all by saying he thinks America is systemically racist and that he and Kamala Harris actually believe… Joe Biden and Kamala Harris regularly say that they believe police have an implicit bias against minorities. When he was asked if he’d cut funding for law enforcement, Joe Biden actually said, “Yes. Absolutely.” But under President Donald Trump, I’ll make you a promise. We’re not going to defund the police, not now, not ever. We’re going to back the blue, and we’re going to back the blue for four more years."\ \ _Speaker_: Mike Pence (former Vice President)\ _Date_: October 28, 2020
balance the budget
_Surface forms_: balance the budget; balancing the budget
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Cut public services and aid to vulnerable populations\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ To cut public services and aid to the vulnerable. Notably, this never involves taxing 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.
Example context (in [_Speech_](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-rally-supporting-proposed-constitutional-amendment-balanced-federal-budget))\ \ "Now, of course, we have to recognize all balanced budgets aren't created equal. The crucial question is how do we balance the budget? I don't think you want us to balance the budget by weaseling out of the first decent tax program since John Kennedy's tax cut nearly 20 years ago. Nor would you have us do it by compromising defenses and placing our country's security in peril. There is a better way. Balance the budget by bringing to heel a Federal establishment which has taken too much power from the States, too much liberty with the Constitution, and too much money from the people."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: July 19, 1982
bankers
_Surface forms_: banker; bankers
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://s-usih.org/2018/03/the-chill-embargo-of-the-snow-on-anti-semitism-populism-and-the-present/))\ \ The problem of ignorance and anti-Semitism has a longer history in U.S. politics. Specifically, the question of whether certain traditionally anti-Semitic tropes were used deliberately or innocently was at the crux of a famous historiographical debate in the 1960s about the Populist movement. Were the Populists’ attacks on greedy bankers—some of which used terms like Shylock or invoked the Rothschilds—meant to focus anger and hatred on the Jews, or was the association so sublimated that the Populists didn’t even realize they were blowing a dogwhistle?
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-backed-gop-state-senator-attacks-globalist-zelensky-claims-bankers-pushing-wwiii/))\ \ "I stand with the Christians worldwide not the global bankers who are shoving godlessness and degeneracy in our face"\ \ _Speaker_: Wendy Rogers (Arizona State Senator)\ _Date_: February 27, 2022
banksters
_Surface forms_: bankster; banksters
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Antisemitism))\ \ Antisemitism may indeed work while never uttering the word "Jew". Some simply replace "Jews" for "Zionists", while others use the evil bankster trope without ever saying or implying that the "banksters" are Jews. (Hint: If your opponent starts quoting the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, they might just be a tad antisemitic.)....While not everybody who speaks of "banksters" and "loan sharks" may necessarily mean Jewish "banksters" and "loan sharks", the undertone is quite notable in many of those screeds. Some leftists have always criticized this wrongheaded criticism of capitalism, including Karl Marx who has written about this phenomenon.
Example context (in [_Tweet attacking Gary Gensler, Jewish chair of US Securities and Exchange Commission _](http://web.archive.org/web/20210915161134/https://twitter.com/ThinkingCrypto1/status/1437977868248784900))\ \ "#Stablecoins are securities, not because of logic/common sense, but because my bankster puppet masters say so. I must help the banking cartel maintain their control, so I'm asking for more power to introduce draconian laws to slow down #crypto and allow bankstes to control it."\ \ _Speaker_: Tony Edward (Thinking Crypto podcast host)\ _Date_: September 14, 2021
Barack Hussein Obama
_Surface forms_: Barack Hussein Obama; Hussein Obama; Barack Hussein
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Obama has a connection to Islam and is therefore threatening and untrustworthy\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/11/7/13549154/dog-whistles-campaign-racism))\ \ Among people who consume media that mentions Muslims primarily in contexts that stoke fear and distrust, the name "Hussein" will evoke those attitudes. Among people whose media diets (and personal experiences) contain more positive representations of Muslims, the name "Hussein" might remind them of the late Iraqi ruler, but perhaps won’t carry the same sort of emotional weight.
Example context (in [_Interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity (Hannity's America)_](https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/fox-news-cunningham-repeatedly-referred-obama-barack-hussein-obama))\ \ "Sean, I've had a couple individuals tell me that after the so-called 'white voters' in Iowa and New Hampshire weighed in heavily, especially in Iowa, for Barack Hussein Obama and then in New Hampshire, Hillary kind of made a little bit of a comeback. There has been a conscious effort by Bubba [Bill] Clinton to smear and to slime Barack Hussein Obama on the race issue"\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Cunningham (radio talk show host)\ _Date_: January 27, 2008
based
_Surface forms_: based
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Endorsement of someone promoting racism or other bigotry\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Based is an euphemism for someone or something that is considered to be authoritative, "unbiased", and redpilled. The alt-right generally describes anyone who promotes racism as "based". The term gained mainstream usage through Gamergate's descriptions of pro-Gamergate YouTubers as "based", although it was originally used by American rapper Lil B the "BasedGod" in a different context; he defined the term that denotes a lifestyle of positivity and tolerance, the complete opposite to the alt-right's appropriation of the phrase. Alt-righters often pair the term with the adjective cucked: something or someone that doesn't accept alt-right views.
Example context (in [_Title of Reddit post linking YouTube video_](https://archive.ph/TEeJ6))\ \ "Steve 'Based' King Asks MSNBC: What Have Minorities Contributed To Civilization?"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: January 8, 2017
be a man among men
_Surface forms_: be a man among men
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal that was originally a Rhodesian military catchphrase\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Be A Man Among Men is a catchphrase that is commonly associated with Rhodesian military propaganda posters. You may see it used among more militant members of the alt-right.
Example context (in [_Flyer from a protest outside a drag brunch fundraiser in North Carolina_](https://thehill.com/homenews/3718909-proud-boys-came-to-fight-at-north-carolina-drag-brunch/))\ \ "Join your local Proud Boys. Be a man among men."\ \ _Speaker_: Proud Boys\ _Date_: October 30, 2022
bear emoji
_Surface forms_: 🐻; bear emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal representing ans of who is a fan of far-right internet personality Owen Benjamin\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The bear (🐻) emoji, especially alongside the hashtag #unBEARables, denotes fans of alt-right internet personality Owen Benjamin. (The bear may also be used more innocuously by people from California, whose flag features a bear. Again, context is important.)
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/NotGoingToHell/status/994034702565740544))\ \ "I’m a bear 🐻✝️ and Christian, I don’t worship Owen but believe he is on the front lines in the culture war in America. America is sliding and sometimes diving into socialism, which is deadly for us all. It’s no joke, but if we don’t allow laughter then we are all doomed."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 8, 2018
beta
_Surface forms_: beta; beta male
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Liberal men\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ Men with liberal ideas and political values were also referred to as "Beta male" as they were perceived by white supremacists as lacking the confidence and self-esteem of the alpha male.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220527164802/https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1530229208223469568))\ \ "Only Beto males support Beta O'Rourke"\ \ _Speaker_: Steven Crowder (Youtuber/Podcaster)\ _Date_: May 27, 2022
big government
_Surface forms_: big government
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Federal assistance\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://thedemlabs.org/2022/02/28/dogwhistle-politics-culture-wars-republicans-use-to-get-elected/))\ \ Code for federal assistance — such as grants, SNAP benefits, unemployment, health insurance. It is also used to describe federal protections — such as regulation and civil rights. It claims government being too big and too involved in the lives of “individuals.”
Example context (in [_Remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference Dinner_](https://www.reaganfoundation.org/media/128735/political-action.pdf))\ \ "In the future, if we get indexing planted firmly as a law of the land, the advocates of big government who want money, more money for their social spending, their social engineering schemes, will have to go to the people and say right out loud: We want more money from your weekly paycheck, so we're raising your taxes. Do that instead of sneaking it out by way of inflation, which they have helped bring on."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: February 18, 1983
big pharma
_Surface forms_: big pharma
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-vax\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Evil pharmaceutical companies sell poison for profit\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://brill.com/view/book/9789004393127/BP000009.xml))\ \ Even though Stein said she thought vaccines work, across the internet she was accuseed of being an anti-vaxxer and pro-woo due to phrases like big pharma, which in alternative-medicine discourses is demonized as selling poison for profit, as would be well-known to people familiar with the conversation.
Example context (in [_Reddit AMA (Ask me Anything) response to a question about the party's platform on homeopathy_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221126212346/https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/zs2n3/comment/c678asb/))\ \ "By the same token, being "tested" and "reviewed" by agencies tied to big pharma and the chemical industry is also problematic. There's no shortage of snake oil being sold there."\ \ _Speaker_: Jill Stein (Green Party presidential candidate)\ _Date_: September 12, 2012
Bing
_Surface forms_: Bing; Bings
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Asian\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Asian person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] an Asian person
Example context (in [_Tweet about Jeffrey Dahmer_](https://twitter.com/HideHerPlanBs/status/1575592688874708993))\ \ "If his victims were white or Asian he woulda been caught… and no us as Black shouldn’t be outrages same way the pinks or bings aren’t outraged about us dying/getting killed"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 29, 2022
biological man
_Surface forms_: biological man; biological men; natal man; natal men; biological male; biological males
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Cisgender man\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ They are referring to the gender they were assigned at birth and that they still identify with. They are cisgender. They will often refuse to use the term cis because they believe they are normal and trans people are abnormal.
Example context (in [_Speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives_](https://www.congress.gov/117/crec/2021/02/25/167/36/CREC-2021-02-25-pt1-PgH633-2.pdf))\ \ "I would just like to highlight three major concerns...Concern number two: Broad and ambiguous definition of gender identity. This language can have unintended consequences and be taken advantage of by criminals or sexual predators. Also, the safety of women in prisons, juvenile detention facilities, and domestic violence shelters could be put at risk, which would force them to share traditionally women-only spaces with biological men, even if a biological male fraudulently gains access."\ \ _Speaker_: Victoria Spartz (Indiana Representative)\ _Date_: February 25, 2021
biological realism
_Surface forms_: biological realism; biological reality
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people aren't real\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Used by various groups who claim that science sides with them, even if their understanding of science is oversimplified, outdated, or irrelevant to the topic at hand. Note: Can also be used to defend gender roles or justify racism, homophobia, and ableism.
Example context (in [_Press Release _](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/paxton-sends-letter-biden-admin-criticizing-unlawful-rule-forces-states-adopt-woke-gender-policies))\ \ "Section 1557 prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex.” The proposed HHS rule would radically change the long-understood definition of “sex,” which has been based on biology, to include “gender identity” or “sexual orientation.” This presents many problems, such as putting free speech at risk, threatening religious liberty, and potentially stripping billions of dollars from states that do not agree with the Biden Administration’s emphasis on redefining biological reality. "\ \ _Speaker_: Ken Paxton (Texas Attorney General)\ _Date_: October 11, 2022
biological realist
_Surface forms_: biological realists; biological realist
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Signal that the speaker doesn't believe that trans people are real\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Used by various groups who claim that science sides with them, even if their understanding of science is oversimplified, outdated, or irrelevant to the topic at hand. Note: Can also be used to defend gender roles or justify racism, homophobia, and ableism.
Example context (in [_Article from Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute (conservative think tank)_](https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2021/07/76717/))\ \ "Because the ground of a RadFem worldview is male domination, the notion that a male could opt into a female identity is just another iteration of male entitlement and supremacy. RadFems are biological realists, but not biological determinists. It is not merely biology per se that defines the category of woman—that would be biological essentialism. For RadFems, what unites and defines women as a group is the pervasive social oppression experienced by biologically female human beings."\ \ _Speaker_: Abigail Favale (Professor)\ _Date_: July 17, 2021
biological woman
_Surface forms_: biological woman; biological women; natal woman; natal women; biological female; biological females
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Cisgender woman\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ They are referring to the gender they were assigned at birth and that they still identify with. They are cisgender. They will often refuse to use the term cis because they believe they are normal and trans people are abnormal.
Example context (in [_Speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives_](https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-167/issue-35/house-section/article/H598-1?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22%5C%22biological+women%5C%22%22%2C%22%5C%22biological%22%2C%22women%5C%22%22%5D%7D&s=7&r=2))\ \ "Mr. Speaker, you see, as a woman, I have competed in sports, and I am so thrilled that I was able to do that, but I competed against biological women… Biological women cannot compete against biological men. Biological little girls cannot compete against biological little boys. And they shouldn't have to… Mr. Speaker, it is one thing to stop discrimination of a class of people, but it is another thing to completely violate and destroy the rights of girls and women in order to achieve this. This bill must be struck down. It is completely wrong. Furthermore, we are in an institution where it says, ``In God we trust.'' Well, it says in Genesis: God created us male and female. In his image, he created us. Science has two sets of chromosomes that prove male and female."\ \ _Speaker_: Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia Representative)\ _Date_: February 24, 2021
bix nood
_Surface forms_: bix nood
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: mock-AAVE to make fun of Black people\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Bix nood is a nonsensical phrase used in mockery of African American Vernacular English; likely popularized by an A. Wyatt Mann cartoon showing a black person babbling nonsensically into their phone.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/0x49fa98/status/1454107036522844162))\ \ ""No Floydhisattva, don't reincarnate me! I must escape Samsara" "Mup da doo didda po mo gub bidda de dat tum muhfuggen bix nood""\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 29, 2021
black and orange square emojis
_Surface forms_: ⬛️🟧; black and orange square emojis; Super Straight; #SuperStraight
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Signal that the speaker is straight and cisgender and would not date a transgender person\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ emoji form of Super Straight. SuperStraight was a failed prank that originated on TikTok and quickly spread to Twitter and 4chan in March 2021 to try to drive a wedge between transgender people and other members of the LGBTQ community. The phrase and hashtag was accompanied by a black-and-orange "Pride" flag (incidentally, the same colors used both by Pornhub and—ironically—by gay dating app Grindr). It essentially was for straight people who wouldn't date trans people, as if dating a trans person means you are less straight.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/BurtSpencer/status/1367697370171940869))\ \ "Super straight & proud ⬛️🟧 Respect my sexual preferences as you wish me to respect yours 🏳️‍🌈 #superstraight"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 4, 2021
black-on-black crime
_Surface forms_: black-on-black crime; black-on-black homicide; black on black crime; black on black homicide; black on black violence; black-on-black violence
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black people are criminals\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ The single most common response to concerns about racial disparities in police use of force and the criminal justice system is, "But what about black-on-black crime?" The question raises the disproportionate levels of crime in black communities — particularly the thousands of homicides each year in which the offender and victim are black — to, on its face, argue that people should worry about black-on-black crime before they worry about police brutality. (Although this ignores the work that many black leaders have done in this area on top of their work on criminal justice issues.) But it's also playing on a racist idea: that black people are all criminals, so they deserve to be treated differently. The idea is that since crime is higher in black communities, police are justified in going into these places and essentially doing as they wish. It's true that crime is higher in black communities. But simplifying the connection between racial disparities in the justice system and crime misses other factors, like implicit bias. A review of the research by the Sentencing Project concluded that throughout various periods in the past few decades, the higher crime rates in black communities only explained about 61 to 80 percent of black overrepresentation in prisons. Nonetheless, concern trolling about black-on-black crime is a very successful way to divert the conversation by playing into racist stereotypes that paint black people as criminals. It shows another way coded language can work: It can be used to signal that white people shouldn't really care about an issue affecting a certain group, because, the thinking goes, that group brought it upon itself.
Example context (in [_Article from Fox News_](https://www.foxnews.com/us/activists-look-other-way-increase-black-murders-experts))\ \ "He added that the protests from BLM and similar groups "covered up and ignored all the black on black crime occurring the last three years," noting "the sad part" about the spike in murders were Black politicians and White liberals who have "refused to accept their role" in the violence."\ \ _Speaker_: Emma Colton (journalist)\ _Date_: April 21, 2022
Blue Lives Matter
_Surface forms_: Blue Lives Matter; #BlueLivesMatter
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black lives don't matter\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-04-18/racism-blue-lives-matter))\ \ Wherever one goes, one sees altered flags, signs and bumper-stickers saying “blue lives matter.” Aside from the smart few who display them on cars because a cop would be more inclined to let you off with a warning, these mostly white, conservative people are oblivious of the racist reek of these signs. Who doesn’t think cops’ lives matter? Only criminals and some on the far, far left. Black Lives Matter is about the disproportional violence African Americans meet at the hands of the police. “Blue lives matter” implies that Black people do not care about cops. There is not a systemic or racial attack on cops, only the dangers and tragedies that have always crossed the thin blue line that should protect all of us.
Example context (in [_Speech at Republican National Convention_](http://us.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1607/19/ddhln.01.html))\ \ "I would like to make something very clear. Blue lives matter in America! There is some good news out of Baltimore, Maryland, as Lieutenant Brian Rice was acquitted on all charges. What we witnessed in Ferguson and Baltimore and Baton Rouge was a collapse of the social order, so many of the accidents of the occupy movement and Black Lives Matter transcends peaceful protest and violates the code of conduct we rely on. I call it anarchy."\ \ _Speaker_: David Clarke (Milwaukee Sheriff)\ _Date_:
blueish
_Surface forms_: blueish; bluish; blue
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish\ _Type_: phonetic-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Blue and bluish/blueish are synonyms/dogwhistles for Jew and Jewish. A picture is shown of people who are Jewish or of Jewish descent and the uploader will color them blue. However, in political compass memes, blue color refers to authoritarian right, and is not antisemitism in that context.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20191130030056/https:/twitter.com/f343j2j32h42/status/1198806254812123142))\ \ "Bluish people handle a lot of our money, it's always been said he who controls the money controls the nation! #BLUEISH #WHYSOBLUE"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 24, 2019
Boogaloo
_Surface forms_: boogaloo; boogalo; big igloo; big luau; the Hawaiian shirt
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Race war\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Boogaloo, boogalo, boog, and big igloo are code words for a rebellion against perceived tyranny, but often used as a cover for (Or misinterpreted as) a race war and the second American Civil War. The term boogaloo is derived from the 1984 movie Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo which is a commonly used phrase online to indicate any sort of sequel, particularly a poor quality one. Big igloo is a derivative synonym that refers to boogaloo and probably to the "big tent" idea of inclusiveness (but for white people since igloos are white), but more likely as a way of evading attempts at moderation. In search of further homophone-ish phrases for their shitposting, this term further morphed into the phrase big luau online, as a reference to the unusually high number of "Boogaloo Boys" posting images wearing Hawaiian shirts. This led to a bizarre situation during lockdown protests regarding the 2019-20 COVID-19 outbreak, where many of the far-right extremists that attended showed their devotion to white supremacy by (in reference to the luau) dressing in Hawaiian shirts.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/DonutOperator/status/1256017324949241859))\ \ "New sponsor: Acre Gold. Monthly gold subscription service. So when the big igloo happens and cash is useless, I can still buy guns and ammo for my roaming bandit gang. (Link below)"\ \ _Speaker_: Donut Operator (Youtuber)\ _Date_: April 30, 2020
bop
_Surface forms_: bop; bopped; bops
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Kill or attack, particularly political opponents\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Bop was popularized as a cutesy term on the Fren World subreddit, meaning to hit, but quickly became used in the barely-covert alt-right Fren memes as a euphemism for 'attack' or 'kill', particularly in the phrase bop the non-frens. When Fren subs began to be banned by Reddit, "bopped" also became a common term to describe a post, user, or subreddit being banned.
Example context (in [_Reddit r/frenworld (now banned)_](https://frenworld-archive.io/frenworld/comments/b/b/h/v/c/2/calling_all_frens_we_have_to_bop_the_nonfrens_and.html))\ \ "Calling all frens! we have to bop the non-frens and clowns! they are invadin our home:("\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: April 10, 2019
brave and stunning
_Surface forms_: brave and stunning
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans women are showered with undue praise just for existing\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Sarcastic phrase implying trans women are, or expect to be, showered with undue praise just for existing. Often used when a TERF is referring to reports of a trans woman allegedly committing violent or sexual offences e.g. "the BRAVE and STUNNING defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of public indecency." It is also used by the far-right. (It was popularized by a South Park episode where the media repeatedly used the phrase to describe Caitlyn Jenner even as she behaved crudely and ran over people with her car.)
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1584379394948153344))\ \ "Are you telling me Joe Biden was interviewed by this brave and stunning “lady” today?"\ \ _Speaker_: Rita Panahi (Australian right-wing columnist)\ _Date_: October 23, 2022
broken family
_Surface forms_: broken family; broken home; broken families; broken homes
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black families are dysfunctional\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ In the context of describing families facing challenges, the “broken family” term aims to ascribe blame to family structure, rather than the social structures, institutions and policies that have failed those families. This term is most frequently assigned to Black families and is part of the larger set of narratives that hold white and non-white people to different standards. It wrongly signals that the challenges Black people face are of their own making, the result of dysfunctional or irresponsible choices. As this logic goes, families are broken because the people in them are broken: it’s not that social injustice has broken them, it’s that they are inherently inferior as people, as evidenced by their class and race. It’s always about them, not the system. Using this term, especially in the context of Black families, infuses any conversation with this entire line of thinking and judgment—whether explicitly or unconsciously. It also presents Black families as hopeless: perpetually broken and unable to be set right,people who get what they deserve given the “choices” they have made... Public opinion rooted in conservatism and religious values has never accepted families that deviate from the traditional two-married-parent nuclear family home, and punishes families that do not fit into this model. But in the context of talking about Black families, the term runs deeper: the idea that Black people are incapable of creating successful family structures and that Black children raised by single mothers are delinquent. The term “broken home” not only lacks empathy and accuracy, it lacks specificity. While highly racialized, it is used to describe everything from divorce and single-parent homes to abuse or poverty, rendering it practically meaningless.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech in Washington State_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-xfinity-arena-everett-washington))\ \ "The inner cities of our country have been run by the Democratic Party for fifty, sixty, seventy years. These Democratic policies – the policies of Hillary Clinton – have produced only poverty, joblessness, failing schools, broken homes, and rising crime. Nearly 4 in 10 African-American children live in poverty, including 45% of children under the age of six. 58% of African-American youth are not working. Meanwhile, another 2 million Hispanic-Americans have been added to the ranks of those in poverty since 2009."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: August 31, 2016
bugman
_Surface forms_: bugman; bug-man; bugmen; bug-men
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Left-wingers who are hollow, technology- and trend-obsessed consumerists.\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The term bugman is used to refer to left-wingers who are seen as being hollow, technology- and trend-obsessed consumerists whose opinions and tastes are completely determined by the mainstream consensus of other bugmen. It is similar in meaning to the incelese term bluepill. They have no individuality, are sometimes said to be "soulless" and have a thousand-yard "insectoid" stare that gives away that they are "dead inside". Their lives are empty and without meaning or purpose except to be consumers and serve corporations. It is a clear attempt at dehumanization and is similar to the NPC meme.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/1466156518609408004))\ \ "I will be enjoying Christmas and behaving as I please without needing permission from some bugman bureaucrat."\ \ _Speaker_: Paul Joseph Watson (British far-right YouTuber)\ _Date_: December 1, 2021
burning coal
_Surface forms_: burning coal; burn coal; burns coal; burned coal; burn the coal
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White woman having sex with a Black man\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Burning coal and coal burner are derisive terms for a white woman having sex with a black man. Largely used as a reference to the full phrase "burn the coal, pay the toll", implying that a white woman who has sex with a black man will meet with violence, end up pregnant and abandoned, or otherwise have some terrible comeuppance for her crimes against the white race. It also applies to white men who have sex with black women, where the white man will pay for his alleged crimes against the white race. Coal digger and mud shark are similarly-employed pejoratives. Contrast with bed wench, used in some black supremacist circles to describe black women having sex with white men.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/track_worker/status/1594371803253772288))\ \ "Burn the coal, pay the toll. [Quote tweet of post that says "Jealous Ex GF beats up Baby Daddy's new boo😬"]"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 20, 2022
butterfly
_Surface forms_: butterfly; butterflies
_Persona/In-Group_: homophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Gay man\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a gay man
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/s_hairpiece/status/1080326947144679424))\ \ "But seriously... Happy New Year to nearly everyone, even the #Googles, the #Yahoos and of course the #Skypes. #FreeHelicopterRides for the #Skittles and #Butterflies! Let's hope 2019 finally brings the blessed #DayoftheRope."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: January 1, 2019
cabal
_Surface forms_: cabal; shadowy cabal; global cabal; banking cabal; elitist cabal
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Powerful group of Jewish people who control the world\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ A small, powerful group that seeks to establish control. Jews have long been accused of being part of a secret group that controls the economic and political world order. The term cabal originates from the word kabbalah, the Jewish mystical interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Often denoted as “Jewish cabal” on social media, it is a dog whistle for Jewish control. Several antisemitic publications and conspiracy theories capitalize on this imagery of a conniving cohort, such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion or the New World Order theory which is based on the idea that Jews have formed a power structure in which they control the media, economy, and politics.
Example context (in [_Tweet and video statement shared on Twitter _](https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1579788950696185859))\ \ "I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are…"\ \ _Speaker_: Tulsi Gabbard (politician and 2020 presidential candidate)\ _Date_: October 11, 2022
car salesman
_Surface forms_: car salesman; car salesmen
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Liberal\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] liberal
Example context (in [_Urban Dictionary entry example_](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Car%20Salesmen))\ \ "Look at all these car salesmen getting ready for Shillary to cuck their country away."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 24, 2016
Carolus Rex
_Surface forms_: Carolus Rex; Charles XII; Karl XII
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal referring to a former king of Sweden long ideolized by far-right groups\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The Latinized name of Charles XII of Sweden, king of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He has long been idolized by Swedish far-right groups, being seen as the last king during an era when Sweden was considered a great power. November 30th, the day of his death, was used by Swedish neo-Nazis and other extremists as a day for their rallies. Due to the influence of the Internet, this status spread to other parts of the far right. Notably, when one of Tucker Carlson's writers was caught on an online neo-Nazi forum, he was using the pseudonym "CharlesXII".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/PeterSweden7/status/1272927192058597376))\ \ "This is going way too far. A former Swedish Mayor now wants to remove statue of the famous Swedish King Charles XII (Carolus Rex). And replace him with a statue of Greta Thunberg. You can't make this up. They want to erase our history 😑"\ \ _Speaker_: Peter Imanuelsen (aka Peter Sweden, far-right activist and self-proclaimed Swedish journalist)\ _Date_: June 16, 2020
centipede
_Surface forms_: centipede; nimble navigator; pede; centipedes; nimble navigators; pedes
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trump supporter\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A nimble navigator (or centipede) is a Trump supporter. The term originated from the YouTube series "You Can't Stump the Trump" mid 2015, where the track "Centipede" by Knife Party plays as the introduction. The introduction to the track contains audio from a BBC nature documentary in which a centipede is described as a "predator" and "nimble navigator", likening it to Trump himself in the context of the video. It was quickly picked up as a meme by Trump supporters (especially /r/the_donald) and centipede became synonymous with Trump and his supporters, to the chagrin of entomologists everywhere.
Example context (in [_Reddit post on r/AskTrumpSupporters_](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskTrumpSupporters/comments/4e8vz5/nimble_navigator_here_how_do_i_photoshop_a_maga/))\ \ "Nimble navigator here. how do i photoshop a maga hat on something...plz halp. "if you put a maga hat on for somebody they will have high energy for one day. if you teach a man to put maga hats on..they will become the highest of centipedes." -me"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: April 10, 2016
central bankers
_Surface forms_: central banker; central bankers
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people who control all the money\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/11/7/13549154/dog-whistles-campaign-racism))\ \ [see international bankers]
Example context (in [_Cartoonist website FAQ_](https://web.archive.org/web/20180119220410/https://grrrgraphics.com/about/))\ \ "Ben Garrison is an independent political cartoonist based in Northwest Montana. Ben began drawing cartoons in 2009 to protest the central banker bailout, bloated government and the slide toward tyranny. Ben’s cartoons have been seen by millions of people around the world. "\ \ _Speaker_: Ben Garrison (right-wing political cartoonist)\ _Date_: January 19, 2018 (earliest website capture)
checkered flag emoji
_Surface forms_: 🏁; checkered flag emoji; chequered flag emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal representing idea that there are only two sexes\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ The chequered/racing flag emoji is a dog whistle often used by TERFs in their bios or names on Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media sites. It supposedly represents the idea that there are only two sexes, like a racing flag features only black and white checks. Emerged around the same time as "genderfree".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/UltraTrizzy/status/1271961660174094343))\ \ "@jk_rowling Hey remember what the great wizard once said "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." 🏁"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 13, 2020
cherry emoji
_Surface forms_: 🍒; cherry emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal representing Joanna Cherry, an anti-trans activist and Scottish politician\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A dogwhistle used by Scottish TERFs on Twitter as a tribute to Joanna Cherry. Cherry, an SNP MP for Edinburgh South West, is known for her anti-trans activism, most notably her opposition to Gender Recognition Act reforms. The emoji is also widely used outside Scottish TERF circles, such as by the "horny on main" Cherry Emoji Twitter subculture.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/Tantearose/status/1490723526013341699))\ \ "Finally, someone has answered that seemingly hitherto unanswerable question, "what is a woman?" Stand down terves, we have our winner 🍒 🏆"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: Februrary 7, 2022
children are being forced to transition
_Surface forms_: children are being forced to transition; forcing children to transition
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are harming children\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ What this means is they don’t know anything about medical transition pathways and are using misinformation to demonise the trans community. Medical transition is not available to children. Another word they may use in this context is, “transing.” You can’t make someone trans, just as you can’t make someone gay.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20210307082256/https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1067813696154624000))\ \ "These cases of kids being forced to "transition" to the opposite gender by their deranged parents are horrifying but instructive. It shows how mental illness is fostered in children. Many powerful institutions are determined to create a generation of confused, mentally ill people"\ \ _Speaker_: Matt Walsh (right-wing political commentator)\ _Date_: November 28, 2018
China Virus
_Surface forms_: China Virus; Wuhan Virus; Kung Flu
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Asian\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Chinese people are infectious diseases and to blame for covid\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://medium.com/dfrlab/u-s-politicians-exploit-coronavirus-fears-with-anti-chinese-dog-whistles-ff61c9d7e458))\ \ While efforts to wrangle the COVID-19 outbreak continue worldwide, the World Health Organization is contending with another type of viral spread in the form of conservative American politicians stigmatizing Chinese people for political gain. Despite the fact that pandemics can start anywhere and — by definition — spread beyond geopolitical boundaries, these politicians have stood by their use of terms like “Wuhan virus” and “foreign virus,” ignoring examples of Asians being verbally and physically assaulted due to being linked with the new coronavirus. Despite WHO’s efforts, leading U.S. conservative politicians and influencers have continued embracing such terminology as “dog whistles” — coded language that can be used to denigrate a group while publicly denying you are doing it — that implicitly blame Chinese people for the viral outbreak. While such language has circulated online since the early days of the outbreak, it was not until well after WHO’s efforts to push back against stigmatizing terms that needlessly divisive COVID-19 rhetoric erupted more broadly within online conservative political discourse. Some conservatives have even embraced using these terms as a badge of honor, such as Jack Posobiec temporarily changing his Twitter name to “Wuhan Jack.” The widespread online debate about COVID-19 and dog-whistle rhetoric was sparked on March 8 following a tweet from U.S. Representative Paul Gosar, in which the Republican lawmaker from Arizona referred to COVID-19 as “Wuhan virus.” According to Trendinalia, a tool used to monitor trending topics on Twitter, the phrase “Wuhan virus” began trending that same day and into the next. Predominantly Democratic politicians and progressive influencers on Twitter repudiated Rep. Gosar’s word choice and decried the politician for the implications of the terminology. But even well-intentioned tweets highlighting Rep. Gosar’s phrasing became a form of amplification in itself, feeding the term more oxygen by distributing it to a broader public. The proliferation of these dog-whistle terms shows no signs of abating, as certain conservative politicians and influencers dig in their heels about their usage, all despite WHO’s warning that such language is contributing to an infodemic in which the public is struggling to vet the reliability of COVID-19 information, while further stigmatizing Chinese people and other populations in the process.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220911010600/https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1236821135964004352))\ \ "I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus. My office will be closed for the week."\ \ _Speaker_: Paul Gosar (Arizona Representative)\ _Date_: March 8, 2020
citizens of nowhere
_Surface forms_: citizens of nowhere; citizen of nowhere; citizens of everywhere; citizen of everywhere
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://helenldecruz.medium.com/the-anti-semitic-origins-of-citizens-of-nowhere-3e50436e6fc3))\ \ Charges of “rootless cosmopolitanism”, “citizen of nowhere”, and “international elite”, are anti-semitic tropes, which have been used throughout the 20th century to cast aspersions on Jews. Now those same old tropes are being used to call the loyalty into question, not only of immigrants in the UK and British expats, but also of well-educated British people who feel cosmopolitan, or who dare to have an ethnically diverse workforce…. Hitler and others used charges of cosmopolitanism against Jews, pitting them against the native-born population, described by Hitler in his 1933 campaign speech to Siemens factory workers as “people [who] are bounded to their soil, bounded to its fatherland, bounded to the possibilities of life that the state … offers”. By contrast, Hitler described Jews as “…a small, rootless, international clique that is turning the people against each other, that does not want them to have peace. It is the people who are at home both nowhere and everywhere, who do not have anywhere a soil on which they have grown up, but who live in Berlin today, in Brussels tomorrow, Paris the day after that, and then again in Prague or Vienna or London, and who feel at home everywhere.”
Example context (in [_Speech at the Conservative Conference_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210827171157/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-37563510))\ \ "But today, too many people in positions of power behave as though they have more in common with international elites than with the people down the road, the people they employ, the people they pass in the street. But if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means."\ \ _Speaker_: Theresa May (former UK Prime Minister)\ _Date_: October 5, 2016
cleaning up our streets
_Surface forms_: clean up our streets; cleaning up our streets; clean up the inner city
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: over-policing of Black and Latino neighborhoods and mass incarceration of their residents \ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](http://www.cpreview.org/blog/2021/2/law-and-order-perpetuating-mass-incarceration-under-the-guise-of-safety))\ \ The U.S. unequivocally uses the prison system for profit rather than reform. America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world—disproportional to our population—and currently allows that system to function as a modern means of systemic oppression. Law and order rhetoric—which emphasizes ‘cleaning up the streets’, protecting youth from succumbing to drug use, and reducing violence— almost always has racist undertones that persecute the existence of Black individuals, particularly low income Black individuals. This, in conjunction with tough on crime mentalities, have allowed racist and ineffective policies to become the norm.
Example context (in [_Remarks at a Fundraising Reception for Senatorial Candidate Claudine Schneider in Warwick, Rhode Island_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-fundraising-reception-for-senatorial-candidate-claudine-schneider-warwick-rhode))\ \ "And speaking of cleaning up, while we're at it, we've got to clean up our streets by fighting the scourge of drugs and its accomplice, violent crime. Our children deserve a chance to avoid drugs, through a vigorous antidrug campaign in the schools. Users and addicts deserve a chance to go clean through treatment. But society also deserves a chance, by sending the drug dealers where they belong -- to do time, hard time. "\ \ _Speaker_: George Bush Sr.\ _Date_: November 20, 1989
climate realism
_Surface forms_: climate realism; climate-change realism; climate change realism
_Persona/In-Group_: climate change denier\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Climate change doesn't exist\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Alarmist is a common global warming denialist dog-whistle to refer to anyone who wants to implement policies that aim to reduce the amount of CO2 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.
Example context (in [_Article from American Enterprise Institute (conservative think tank)_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210622154443/https://www.aei.org/articles/the-case-for-climate-change-realism/))\ \ "After having been dismissive of climate alarmism for years, it's time for conservatives to recommit themselves to understanding the scientific basics and to arguing the compelling case for climate realism."\ \ _Speaker_: Benjamin Zycher (Fellow at American Enterprise Institute)\ _Date_: June 21, 2021
climate realist
_Surface forms_: climate realist; climate realists
_Persona/In-Group_: climate change denier\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Somebody who believes climate change doesn't exist, or that climate concerns are greatly exaggerated\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word))\ \ Alarmist is a common global warming denialist dog-whistle to refer to anyone who wants to implement policies that aim to reduce the amount of CO2 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.
Example context (in [_Article for skynews.com.au_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220403133902/https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/outsiders/german-authorities-are-cracking-down-on-climate-change-dissent/video/b4e43e129824fe13406268a3e1d8baec))\ \ "YouTuber and climate realist Naomi Seibt says governments across the world are cracking down on dissent, especially when it comes to contentions issues like the response to COVID-19 and climate change."\ \ _Speaker_: Sky News Australia\ _Date_: May 31, 2020
Clown World
_Surface forms_: 🤡🌎; Clown World; Honkler
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal originating in 4chan troll meme that clowns are racist\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Clown World (a.k.a., Clown Pepe, Honk Honk or Honkler) is a meme created by 4chan trolls to claim that clowns are racist. Clown World is a xenophobic and neo-Nazi dog whistle based on the idea that it's nihilistically humorous that the supposed destruction of Western civilization (through the normalization of autistic people, LGBTQ+ people, immigration, interracial sex and anything else that the alt-right hates) is allowed without consequence. The emoji for Clown World is 🤡🌎.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221128213608/https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1595819532643598336))\ \ "Our society is at peak corruption… fraud is widespread… our politicians and central bankers engage in insider trading… The SEC protects the crooks, not retail… will anyone go to jail…? or will we repeat 2008 and continue as if nothing had happened…? 🔊sound ...🧐🤡🌎"\ \ _Speaker_: Wall Street Silver (Youtuber)\ _Date_: November 24, 2022
clownfish
_Surface forms_: clownfish
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are ridiculous for thinking that humans can change sex\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites. This means that male-to-female sex changes are a natural part of their reproductive biology. Clownfish schools are led by a female. When this female dies, the dominant male changes sex and takes her place, becoming a fertile (i.e. egg-producing) female. TERF references to clownfish are intended to mock and otherize trans women, suggesting that the idea humans can change sex is absurd because humans are not fish. This also meshes with the Clown World dogwhistle.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/KDansky/status/1561030423559421955))\ \ "Things that, bizarrely, have to be said in 2022, thanks to Trans, Inc.: - Human beings aren't clownfish. - Lesbians don't like penises. - Men can't get pregnant. - Only women have a cervix. - It's wrong to mutilate children. Feel free to add to the list in replies."\ \ _Speaker_: Kara Dansky (author) \ _Date_: August 20, 2022
coal burner
_Surface forms_: coal burner; coal burners; coal digger; coal diggers; mud shark; mud sharks
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: white women who have sexwith black men\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A white person (typically a woman) who has sex with a black person (typically a man). Coal digger and mud shark are similarly-employed pejoratives. Contrast with bed wench, used in some black supremacist circles to describe black women having sex with white men. Accordingly, the rhyming phrase "Burn the coal, pay the toll" expresses schadenfreude towards white people who have sex with black people and then face a terrible comeuppance for their crimes against the white race.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/TuckahoeCohee/status/1583968299125071873))\ \ "Why is there a fucking coal burner in the background of this image [Quote tweet of image with a white woman holding a black baby in the background] "\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 22, 2022
coastal elite
_Surface forms_: coastal elite; coastal elites
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ The term "Coastal elites", while it may not exclusively refer to Jews (can also be a dog-whistle for liberals residing in coastal states) can also be invoked in reference to Jews
Example context (in [_Interview with Amna Nawaz from PBS_](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/culture-wars-take-center-stage-in-floridas-governor-race-between-desantis-and-crist))\ \ "It's not politics, because it's policy. It is in our budget. We have actually appropriated money to do just that. And it's meant to send a message. And I think that's what the governor did was expose the hypocrisy of those coastal elites. "\ \ _Speaker_: Blaise Ingoglia (Floria State Representative)\ _Date_: October 20, 2022
COIN
_Surface forms_: COIN; co-opting intersex narratives; COINing
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are liars who appropriate intersex people's struggles\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Stands for "Co-Opting Intersex Narratives." This term was initially used in intersex communities to criticise others who falsely equate being trans with being intersex or claim to be intersex when they have not been diagnosed. Subsequently, TERFs hijacked it and now use it to accuse all trans people of being liars and appropriating intersex people's struggles.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/ComradeHedgehog/status/1497657370499063817))\ \ "This is getting perilously close to "COINing", aka "Co-opting Intersex Narratives", aka trying to use the health issues of people with Disorders of Sexual Development to bash women-who-stand-up-for-themselves over the head."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: February 26, 2022
coincidence
_Surface forms_: coincidence; coincidences; Cohencidence; Cohencidences
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish conspiracy\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/11/7/13549154/dog-whistles-campaign-racism))\ \ Take the use of the word "coincidence" as a dog whistle. In the recent kerfuffle over the "Coincidence Detector" app, many news readers learned that internet anti-Semites use "coincidence" to mean, roughly, a Jewish conspiracy. Until the story broke, this subculture could go around calling people and events "coincidences" with impunity – pointing to an anti-Trump article by a Jewish author, for example — maybe confusing readers who didn’t share their views, but not raising any hackles.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/benwehrman/status/1503499359463170050))\ \ "Just a positively spectacular coincidence that @SECGov gives every broker-dealer a last call warning to shore their shit up for margin call mayhem 3 days before @GameStop earnings. #GME #NothingToSeeHere #Cohencidence"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 14, 2022
colorblind
_Surface forms_: color-blind society; colorblind; colorblindness; don't see color
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to race-based affirmative action\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ Conservative advocates of colorblindness use this term as a shorthand for their opposition to affirmative action. They contend that colorblindness means government should never take race into account, not even as a way to promote racial equality....by 1965, a conservative form of colorblindness had emerged: according to the newest friends of the theory, the Constitution forbade any state use of race, whether to segregate or--and this was the real agenda--to integrate. Colorblindness lies at the heart of the contemporary belief held by many whites that they are the true racial victims in US society today…It sounds liberal yet works like a racial cudgel, denying that there’s discrimination against minorities, elevating whites as racial victims, justifying white superiority, and facilitating dog whistle racial appeals that emphasize culture and comportment. And one more thing: colorblindness also protects dog whistle race-baiting against charges of racism. Even though conservatives repeatedly use an ethnic vocabulary, they always hold in reserve the colorblind insistence that race is just a matter of blood. This provides a stock defense of dog whistling, for it allows politicians to demagogue culture and behavior, while insisting that they cannot possibly be engaged in racial pandering because they have not directly referenced biology
Example context (in [_Radio Address_](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-nation-martin-luther-king-jr-and-black-americans))\ \ "We're committed to a society in which all men and women have equal opportunities to succeed, and so we oppose the use of quotas. We want a colorblind society, a society that, in the words of Dr. King, judges people ``not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.''"\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: January 18, 1986
controlled media
_Surface forms_: controlled media; media control
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the media\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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 the "controlled" media (without specifying who controls it, but anti-Semites know "who" that means)
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230103002642/https://twitter.com/ABridgen/status/1608078600061730817))\ \ "By suppressing the evidence of the harms caused by the mRNA vaccines the MSM have sealed their own fate. The public will never believe anything from them again. It’s the end of these mouthpieces of big Pharma and the super wealthy elite. This is the end of the controlled media."\ \ _Speaker_: Andrew Bridgen (British Member of Parliament)\ _Date_: December 28, 2022
cosmopolitan
_Surface forms_: cosmopolitan; cosmopolitans
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ “Cosmopolitan” and “elite” are terms that have separately incited antisemites across the political spectrum. Based on stereotypes of Jewish wealth and insularity, Jews have been accused of being part of an elite class for centuries. In the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, for instance, Jews were charged with being “rootless cosmopolitans” and fell victim to Stalin’s anti-cosmopolitan campaign where they were arrested and tortured. Today, “cosmopolitan elite” is a code word used by the far-right to accuse Jews and liberals of controlling America and/or being disloyal and unpatriotic by favoring internationalism over isolationism.
Example context (in [_Speech at the National Conservatism Conference_](https://www.hawley.senate.gov/senator-josh-hawleys-speech-national-conservatism-conference))\ \ "The cosmopolitan elite look down on the common affections that once bound this nation together: things like place and national feeling and religious faith. They regard our inherited traditions as oppressive and our shared institutions—like family and neighborhood and church—as backwards. What they offer instead is a progressive agenda of social liberation in tune with the priorities of their wealthy and well-educated counterparts around the world. And all of this—the economic globalizing, the social liberationism—has worked quite well. For some. For the cosmopolitan class. And yes, in this bargain there are lots of jobs—jobs on Wall Street, or in Hollywood, or in Silicon Valley. Because the truth is, the cosmopolitan economy has made the cosmopolitan class an aristocracy."\ \ _Speaker_: Josh Hawley (Missouri Senator)\ _Date_: July 18, 2019
cosmopolitan elite
_Surface forms_: cosmopolitan elite; cosmopolitan elites
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ “Cosmopolitan” and “elite” are terms that have separately incited antisemites across the political spectrum. Based on stereotypes of Jewish wealth and insularity, Jews have been accused of being part of an elite class for centuries. In the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, for instance, Jews were charged with being “rootless cosmopolitans” and fell victim to Stalin’s anti-cosmopolitan campaign where they were arrested and tortured. Today, “cosmopolitan elite” is a code word used by the far-right to accuse Jews and liberals of controlling America and/or being disloyal and unpatriotic by favoring internationalism over isolationism.
Example context (in [_Speech at Republican National Convention _](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/kimberly-guilfoyle-2020-rnc-speech-transcript))\ \ "Do you support the cancel culture? The cosmopolitan elites of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Joe Biden, who blame America first? Do you think America is to blame? Or, do you believe in American greatness? Believe in yourself? In President Trump? In individual and personal responsibility? They want to destroy this country and everything that we have fought for and hold dear. They want to steal your liberty, your freedom. They want to control what you see and think and believe so that they can control how you live. They want to enslave you to the weak, dependent, liberal victim ideology to the point that you will not recognize this country or yourself"\ \ _Speaker_: Kimberly Guilfoyle (TV news personality and Trump advisor)\ _Date_: August 24, 2020
cosmopolitanism
_Surface forms_: cosmpolitanism; cosmopolitan agenda
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish control\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ “Cosmopolitan” and “elite” are terms that have separately incited antisemites across the political spectrum. Based on stereotypes of Jewish wealth and insularity, Jews have been accused of being part of an elite class for centuries. In the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, for instance, Jews were charged with being “rootless cosmopolitans” and fell victim to Stalin’s anti-cosmopolitan campaign where they were arrested and tortured. Today, “cosmopolitan elite” is a code word used by the far-right to accuse Jews and liberals of controlling America and/or being disloyal and unpatriotic by favoring internationalism over isolationism.
Example context (in [_Speech at the National Conservatism Conference_](https://www.hawley.senate.gov/senator-josh-hawleys-speech-national-conservatism-conference))\ \ "Because who now listens to the American middle? The cosmopolitan agenda has driven both Left and Right...Our national solidarity has been broken by the globalizing and liberationist policies of the cosmopolitan agenda. Now we must forge it anew. And so at this moment in our nation’s history, we must work to raise up a generation united in a common love for our distinctive achievements as a people. And that means we must teach our children who we are, without apology."\ \ _Speaker_: Josh Hawley (Missouri Senator)\ _Date_: July 18, 2019
countersemite
_Surface forms_: countersemite; counter-semite; countersemites; counter-semites
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: antisemite\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A supposedly clever but completely transparent term used to deny that one is an antisemite, while simultaneously asserting it
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/_Youhad1job/status/876571386302545921))\ \ "#elsagate is real. YouTube is producing scat porn and other gross content for kids. Remember who keeps doing this? #countersemite"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 18, 2017
critical race theory
_Surface forms_: critical race theory; CRT; C.R.T.
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Teaching anything about race and American history\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/06/republicans-glenn-youngkin-joe-biden-democrats))\ \ Moral panic over CRT has been fuelled for more than a year by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and other rightwing media, an apparent backlash to racial justice protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year. In such hands, CRT became a catch-all for any teaching about race and American history. “It is a very convenient soundbite for encapsulating everything about the reckoning after George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Tanya Hernández, a law professor at Fordham University in New York. “Those who are making a lot of noise about critical race theory have no interest in learning what it’s really about because it’s not their focal point, just a nice encapsulation as a reference point of everything they don’t like. They don’t want any discussion about the accuracy and the truthfulness of our racial histories to be taught to children.” It proved the right dog-whistle in the right place at the right time. Youngkin tapped into a surge of frustration among suburban parents after months of school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. This included grumbles about teachers’ unions, mask mandates and what they witnessed about their children’s education during months of remote learning. Tara Setmayer, a senior adviser to the Lincoln Project, a group opposed to Donald Trump and Trumpism, said: “Republicans are the masters at finding an issue playing on the racial resentment and grievance within the Republican party base and creating this perception that somehow this is a threat to children, to white America, and some type of invasion of the education system. “Critical race theory doesn’t even exist here and most people don’t know what it is. But it is a masterclass in how perception is reality and, when propaganda isn’t pushed back on, it can metastasise in ways that become problematic in campaigns. That’s exactly what happened in Virginia.” Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, said: “Lee Atwater, who was considered one of the greatest Republican political operatives, understood that racial resentment animates a lot of white suburban voters and you can manipulate that to get people to the polls. Critical race theory now is the modern day version of the southern strategy.”
Example context (in [_Gubernatorial campaign rally in Virginia_](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/06/republicans-glenn-youngkin-joe-biden-democrats))\ \ "What we don’t do is teach our children to view everything through a lens of race, where we divide them into buckets – one group’s an oppressor and another group’s a victim – and we pit them against each other and we steal their dreams. We will not be a commonwealth of dream-stealers. We will be a commonwealth of dream-enablers and builders. We know it's not right. We're all created equal, and we're trying so hard to live up to those immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who implored us to be better than we are; to judge one another based on the content of our character and not the color of our skin. And so let me be clear, on day one, we will not have political agendas in the classroom and I will ban critical race theory. "\ \ _Speaker_: Glenn Youngkin (Virginia Governor)\ _Date_: November 1, 2021
Crusades imagery
_Surface forms_: Crusades imagery, insignia, symbols
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: I'm a white supremacist\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ As Little (2018) shows, the use of imagery referencing the crusades is meant to show how white Christians again have to defend themselves against Muslims in a clash between civilizations, one that is seen as inevitable and whose violence is viewed as justified. How real this connection is to some became apparent in March 2019 when the gunman who killed 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand, was found to have the names of Christian Serbian military leaders, who battled the Ottoman Muslims centuries ago, written on his ammunition (Arsenault, 2019)
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/GaryCar78593878/status/1538957396747362305))\ \ "The British Corporatist Globalist Empire is the enemy of the English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, of all people who love liberty and freedom. The British State must fall, Deus Vult 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🙏☦️ [Note: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is the English flag but is sometimes used due to its resemblance to the Medieval Knights Templar flag]"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 20, 2022
cuck
_Surface forms_: cuck; cuckold; cuckservative; cucks; cuckolds; cuckservatives
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: liberal or establishment Republican men\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ This slur with racist connotations was used to elicit humiliation by projecting white men from liberal as well as the establishment Republican group as weak, feminine, emasculated, and sexually inadequate. In our corpus of tweets, it served as a code for referring to conservative politicians including Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John McCain, and Paul Ryan as well as writers belonging to conservative magazines such as the National Review
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/LindaSuhler/status/717812489321222144))\ \ "If you support #TedCruz & can live with him pursuing the presidency via contested convention, congrats! You are officially a cuckservative."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: April 6, 2016
cultural enrichment
_Surface forms_: cultural enrichment
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslims create problems in society\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Cultural enrichment is a sarcastic term used by the alt-right to mock those who think immigration from countries that aren't majority white or East Asian is not an inherently bad thing. The term is used as a mocking euphemism for terrorist attacks, street crimes, or other problems the alt-right believes to stem from large minority or immigrant populations. The term is also switched around with a similar term, culturally enriched, with the same predictable results and statements from alt-righters.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://archive.ph/elmYD))\ \ "Another day of cultural enrichment in Londonistan. Weaponised vehicles, a few dead people. Sadiq Khan's Londonistan #londonattack"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 3, 2017
cultural Marxism
_Surface forms_: cultural Marxism
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people are upending society\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html))\ \ A number of the conspiracy theorists tracing the origins of “cultural Marxism” assign outsize significance to the Frankfurt School, an interwar German — and mostly Jewish — intellectual collective of left-wing social theorists and philosophers. Many members of the Frankfurt School fled Nazism and came to the United States, which is where they supposedly uploaded the virus of cultural Marxism to America. These zany stories of the Frankfurt School’s role in fomenting political correctness would be entertaining, except that they echo the baseless allegations of tiny cabals ruling the world that fed the right’s paranoid imagination in prior eras. The wider discourse around cultural Marxism today resembles nothing so much as a version of the Judeobolshevik myth updated for a new age. In the years after the Russian Revolution, fantasists took advantage of the fact that many of its instigators were Jewish to suggest that people could save time by equating Judaism and communism — and kill off both with one blow. As the historian Paul Hanebrink recounts in an unnerving new study, according to the Judeobolshevik myth, the instigators of communism were the Jews as a whole, not some tiny band of thinkers, conniving as a people to bring communist irreligion and revolution worldwide. The results of such beliefs weren’t pretty. According to Professor Hanebrink, many aspects of the Judeobolshevik fantasy survived the Holocaust it helped bring about, just with the role of the Jews implied more euphemistically or replaced by new adversaries. As in Judeobolshevism, cultural Marxism homogenizes vast groups of shadowy enemies and assigns them a secret design to upend society. As in Judeobolshevism, those supposedly under threat are invited to identify themselves with “the Christian West” and surge in self-defense before it is too late.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220120165257/https://twitter.com/bolsonarosp/status/1025718449425788929))\ \ "It was a pleasure to meet STEVE BANNON, strategist in Donald Trump's presidential campaign.We had a great conversation and we share the same worldview.He said be an enthusiast of Bolsonaro's campaign and we are certainly in touch to join forces,especially against cultural marxism."\ \ _Speaker_: Eduardo Bolsonaro (politician and son of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro)\ _Date_: August 4, 2018
cultural Marxists
_Surface forms_: cultural Marxists; cultural Marxist
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people are upending society\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html))\ \ [see cultural Marxism]
Example context (in [_Review of Patrick J. Buchanan's book, "The Death of the West"._](http://web.archive.org/web/20200104132924/https://www.unz.com/proberts/that-buchanan-book/))\ \ "Cultural Marxists assault not only our history but also the family, the chastity of women and Christianity, important pillars of our civilization. Cultural Marxists use education, entertainment and the media to create a new people that shares their values."\ \ _Speaker_: Paul Craig Roberts (economist and columnist)\ _Date_: January 8, 2002
culture enricher
_Surface forms_: culture enricher; culture enrichers; culture-enricher; culture-enrichers
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslims create problems in society\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1889639 ))\ \ The culture enricher expression, which is known to still circulate in its sarcastic form in far-right settings in Sweden, has a background in Neo-Nazism. In the 1980s and 90s, it became widespread in these settings as: a coded expression for everything they dislike about the immigration and refugee politics and as a joke on the anti-racists, who have often cited culture enrichment, exotic food, and folk dance as arguments for increased immigration. Neo-Nazi papers from this time show use of culture enricher as a synonym to immigrant, and as a commetary of the issues that immigrant related crime, violence, attitudes, and culture bring to Swedish society.
Example context (in [_Reddit post on r/the_frauke (German far-right subreddit)_](https://www.reddit.com/r/the_frauke/comments/60m7d8/cultureenrichers_who_pushed_man_in_front_of_a/))\ \ "Culture-Enrichers Who Pushed Man in Front of a Train Released From Custody"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 21, 2017
cut taxes
_Surface forms_: cut taxes; cutting taxes; tax cut; tax cuts
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Don't spend tax money on minorities\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/8-sneaky-racial-code-words-and-why-politicians-love-the-1790874941))\ \ Dog-whistle politics is partly about demonizing people of color, but it's also about demonizing government in a way that helps the very rich, says López. So, when Ronald Regan said "cut taxes," what he was communicating to the middle class was, "so your taxes won't be wasted on minorities." A key Reagan operative admitted as much in an interview quoted in Lopez's book, saying, " 'We want to cut taxes' … is a whole lot more abstract than, 'Nigger, nigger.' " It continues to be more abstract, and it continues to work.
Example context (in [_Address to the Nation on Federal Tax Reduction Legislation_](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/address-nation-federal-tax-reduction-legislation))\ \ "A few days ago I was visited here in the office by a Democratic Congressman from one of our southern States. He'd been back in his district. And one day one of his constituents asked him where he stood on our economic recovery program -- I outlined that program in an earlier broadcast -- particularly the tax cut...The constituent, a farmer, listened politely until he'd finished, and then he said, ``Don't give me an essay. What I want to know is are you for 'im or agin 'im?''"\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: July 27, 1981
deadbeat dad
_Surface forms_: deadbeat dad; deadbeat dads; deadbeat father; deadbeat fathers; deadbeat; deadbeats
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black men are irresponsible\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ [see absent fathers]
Example context (in [_Address on the Senate floor from chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance_](https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Sprt21.pdf))\ \ "these American taxpayers are living up to their own responsibilities, supporting their own children, and it is a brutally unfair law which requires them to also support the children of the deadbeats who abandon them to welfare."\ \ _Speaker_: Russell Long (Louisiana Senator)\ _Date_: December 14, 1971
deadly exchange
_Surface forms_: deadly exchange; deadly-exchange
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews are responsible for American police brutality\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ Suggesting Israel is responsible for American police brutality due to training programs between U.S. and Israeli police forces. The deadly exchange trope directly compares U.S. police actions against Black Americans with the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) treatment of Palestinians. Believers in the “deadly exchange” allege “worst practices” are shared [between U.S. and Israeli armed forces] to promote and extend discriminatory and repressive policing practices that already exist in both countries, including racial profiling, massive spying and surveillance, deportation and detention, and attacks on human rights defenders.” Users of this trope argue Israeli and U.S. law enforcement exchange security practices and ideologies to purposely target people of color. This false equivalence appeared in demonstrations in the summer of 2020 when protesters chanted “Israel, we know you, you murder children, too" (see blood libel). This is categorically false. Accusing Israel or Zionists (see Zionists) of complicity in the murder of Black people is malicious, perpetuates antisemitism, and blames Jews for societal ills
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/m7mdkurd/status/1498308307450314753))\ \ "Zionist forces using the infamous and sometimes fatal “knee-on-neck” repression technique, which they have exported to Black and brown communities in the US through deadly-exchange programs."\ \ _Speaker_: Mohammed El-Kurd (journalist)\ _Date_: February 28, 2022
deep state
_Surface forms_: deep state
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people are manipulating and controlling the government\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The deep state is a conspiracy theory that there is a body of people who are secretly manipulating or controlling US government policy, and the President must serve their interests or else risk assassination.[147] It serves as a convenient excuse for the alt-right as to why Trump can't get anything done (e.g. It doesn't matter, the deep state are stopping him at all costs and he needs to make sure they don't take him out!).[148] Like many alt-right expressions, the term can be used as covert anti-Semitism.[149]
Example context (in [_Interview with Jonathan Lemire of the Associated Press_](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-sean-spicer-politics-363ccdba946548bfa4b855ae38d1797a))\ \ "Of course, the deep state exists. There’s a permanent state of massive bureaucracies that do whatever they want and set up deliberate leaks to attack the president. This is what the deep state does: They create a lie, spread a lie, fail to check the lie and then deny that they were behind the lie."\ \ _Speaker_: Newt Gingrich (Former Georgia representative and House Speaker)\ _Date_: March 14, 2017
Deus Vult
_Surface forms_: Deus vult; Deus Vult
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Islamophobic signal referring to battle cry by Christian crusaders\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ Used as a battle cry by Christian crusaders in the early middle ages, the phrase came to symbolize pride in the Christian state and Western culture. Originally used by Pope Urban II in his eleventh-century speech asking Christians to reclaim their holy land from its Muslim occupants, the far-right hijacked the term and adopted it to covertly spread Islamophobia.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20200608232939/https://twitter.com/Based_Brazilian/status/1270116905676943361))\ \ "Congratulations to Filipe Martins who has just been promoted to Chief Advisor for International Affairs! Like Bolsonaro’s sons he revels in bashing leftists, feminists, “globalists” and journalists. They don’t call call him “Sorocabannon” for nothing! Deus Vult! Go get them!"\ \ _Speaker_: Based Brazil\ _Date_: June 8, 2020
did you see Kyle?
_Surface forms_: did you see Kyle?
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal that is a play on Sieg Heil (Nazi salute)\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Did you see Kyle? is rhyming slang for the Nazi salute, "Sieg Heil", probably a reference to Kyle Chapman.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220618032601/https://twitter.com/TomForsythe7/status/1537999867460476928))\ \ "Did you see Kyle? He's about this tall.. "\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 17, 2022
dindu
_Surface forms_: dindu; dindus
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Dindu Nuffin is a contraction of "didn't do nothing", often shortened to Dindu. Both may be accompanied with he wuz a good boy or requests for gibs ("gives," as in handouts or compensation). The terms are bandied about whenever a Black person is the victim of police brutality. It's used as a counter to anyone complaining about police brutality, to imply that the Black victim was actually a violent career criminal that was "asking for it".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221130224122/https://twitter.com/BSchmorell/status/1583507107273318401))\ \ "Dindus when police shoot and kill a guy who draws a gun on them: "Y cuddnt u hav uzed magik to stop him wiff ur mind????" Dindus when their own target is completely stationary and it would have been easy to point-blank the guy's kneecap: "It wuz seff-defens!!!""\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 21, 2022
dindu nuffin
_Surface forms_: dindu nuffin
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black person\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Dindu Nuffin is a contraction of "didn't do nothing", often shortened to Dindu. Both may be accompanied with he wuz a good boy or requests for gibs ("gives," as in handouts or compensation). The terms are bandied about whenever a Black person is the victim of police brutality. It's used as a counter to anyone complaining about police brutality, to imply that the Black victim was actually a violent career criminal that was "asking for it".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220809194344/https://twitter.com/elementality13/status/1557089630310518784))\ \ ">Be a black woman >Get into a fight with your black boyfriend >Get drunk >Barrel down a busy road going 100+ mph sticking your phone out the window >Cause 6 deaths >dindu nuffin"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 9, 2022
dinosaur emojis
_Surface forms_: dinosaur emojis; 🦖; 🦕
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal reclaiming MP David Lammy's denouncement of transphobes as "dinosaurs" \ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Yet another dogwhistle introduced by UK TERFs on Twitter. They co-opted the emojis to proudly proclaim their bigotry after Labour MP David Lammy denounced transphobes as "dinosaurs" who want to "hoard rights" at a September 2021 party event. This was a poorly-worded version of a common counterargument to the reactionary myth that granting increased rights to marginalized groups will mean less rights for non-marginalized groups. (Compare to MRA claims that feminism will somehow make second-class citizens of cis men). TERFs responded by misrepresenting Lammy's statement as a misogynist telling uppity women defending their "sex-based rights" to wheesht.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20211008122119/https://twitter.com/WomenReadWomen/status/1446450600359522304))\ \ "Posie Parker at London’s #HearMeRoar 🦖 protest: “We will not stand for the erasure of women, our language, nor our rights. The word ‘woman’ is not hate speech. A woman is an adult human female. Only women have a cervix. We are not ‘bodies with vaginas’.”"\ \ _Speaker_: Women's Voices (blogger and podcaster Genevieve Gluck)\ _Date_: October 8, 2021
discussion club
_Surface forms_: discussion club; discussion clubs
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: a white supremacist meeting\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A "discussion club" is a codeword for an alt-right meeting. The term abuses the alt-right's use of "free speech" as an all-purpose defense of their activities.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/Dorksword/status/1051743654618918917))\ \ "We can't even open clubs on campuses because they only allow one club per issue and feminists opened one for men already. Except it isn't about men's rights, it's about how men can protect women better. I'm not kidding. If we get blocked opening a discussion club -"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 15, 2018
Dred Scott
_Surface forms_: Dred Scott; Dred Scott decision
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Signal opposition to abortion by equating it to slavery\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-013-9265-x))\ \ George W. Bush mentioned the Dred Scott decision in a presidential debate. His language simply referenced the disastrous 1857 decision for some viewers, but it had a different meaning for others. Bush's curious Dred Scott reference in the context of a question about judicial nominations was arguably a way to signal to Christian conservatives that he would nominate a justice who disagreed with Roe v. Wade (Kirkpatrick 2004). The two cases have been linked in the Christian, pro-life community based on their association between slavery and abortion. They argue that abortion and slavery are both instances where the strong, or politically powerful, have a responsibility to protect the week, and that an overly activist Supreme Court erred in both Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade by not recognizing the humanity in slaves and the unborn (Buckley 2000). The appeal was targeted based on its limited cultural resonance; the appeal only signaled abortion to a narrow subset of the population. Given the controversial nature of an anti-Roe v. Wade signal, the specificity of the cue was strategic.
Example context (in [_Presidential Debate_](https://www.debates.org/voter-education/debate-transcripts/october-8-2004-debate-transcript/))\ \ "Moderator: Mr. President, if there were a vacancy in the Supreme Court and you had the opportunity to fill that position today, who would you choose and why? Bush: … I would pick somebody who would strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States. Let me give you a couple of examples, I guess, of the kind of person I wouldn’t pick…Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges, years ago, said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights."\ \ _Speaker_: George W. Bush\ _Date_: October 8, 2004
dual citizen
_Surface forms_: dual citizen; dual citizens; dual citizenship
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The term dual citizen (and its variants) are used to claim that anyone who is Jewish is automatically an Israeli citizen, and by extension of suspect loyalty to their home country. Very popularly used in declarations like "X members of the US Congress are dual citizens." In reality, Jewish persons with no other ties to Israel are eligible to apply for and gain Israeli citizenship under the 1950 Law of Return, but are not automatically citizens. And of course accusing Jewish people of divided loyalties to the country where they live goes back for centuries.
Example context (in [_Reddit post on r/conspiracy_](http://web.archive.org/web/20201223135954/https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/acly8d/here_is_a_full_list_of_all_40_currentlyserving_us/))\ \ "Here is a full list of all 40 currently-serving US congresspeople who have dual citizenship with Israel"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: January 4, 2019
dual loyalty
_Surface forms_: dual loyalty; dual loyalties; disloyalty
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews are disloyal to their country\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ Dual loyalty is a bigoted trope used to cast Jews as the “other.” For example, it becomes antisemitic when an American Jew’s connection to Israel is scrutinized to the point of questioning his or her trustworthiness or loyalty to the United States (see Figure D4). Dual loyalty accusations also occur on U.S. college campuses when Jewish students are asked to denounce the actions of the Israeli government in order to participate in progressive activities. By accusing Jews of being disloyal citizens whose true allegiance is to Israel or a hidden Jewish agenda (see globalist), antisemites sow distrust and spread harmful ideas—like the belief that Jews are a traitorous “fifth column,” meaning they are undermining their country from within. The allegation of dual loyalty can also be aimed at non-Jews for what antisemites see as being “excessively loyal to Israel,” a criticism rarely leveled against friends and supporters of other countries (see Figure D5). For centuries, these antisemitic accusations of disloyalty have led to the harassment, marginalization, oppression, and murder of Jewish people. (AJC Translate Hate glossary)
Example context (in [_Speaking to reporters during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Romania_](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/458135-trump-jews-that-vote-democrat-show-lack-of-knowledge-or-great/))\ \ "I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: August 20, 2019
Durden
_Surface forms_: Durden; Durdens
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: transgender person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] transgender person
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221130233939/https://twitter.com/ahf77118198/status/1586411948199272448))\ \ "America is in the throes of a cultural and political war over gender ideology, featuring high-profile conflicts over everything from school curricula to athletics to pronouns. Durden"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 29, 2022
early life
_Surface forms_: early life; early life section; Wikipedia early life
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: the person being talked about is Jewish\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The "Early life" section of a standard Wikipedia biography tends to detail the parents and early experiences of the subject, often including what religion they were raised in. If, for example, a journalist named John Rosenbaum writes an article criticizing racism, the alt-righter will comment online, "Google 'John Rosenbaum early life'" as a way of indicating to readers that they should note he is Jewish. The implication being that Jewish people are active in promoting equality, racial integration, LGBT acceptance, and other such values hated by the alt-right.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221004082842/https://twitter.com/LegendaryEnergy/status/1576986230012510208))\ \ "1.) See the creepiest & cringiest tweet of the day 2.) Find their wikipedia 3.) Go to Early Life section Almost always the same results. As someone intrigued by patterns (no hate here), it truly is fascinating."\ \ _Speaker_: An0maly (Youtuber and musician)\ _Date_: October 3, 2022
economic anxiety
_Surface forms_: economic anxiety; working class anxiety
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Anxiety about non-white people becoming equal economically and socially\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.salon.com/2015/12/22/donald_trump_will_make_america_white_again_white_working_class_anxiety_is_a_dog_whistle_for_racism/))\ \ After all, people who are losing ground economically are going to be angry, depressed and generally upset and Trump speaks to those feelings very directly. (The name of his latest book is "Crippled America.") President Obama talked about this at some length yesterday, saying that Trump was "exploiting" these peoples' fears. And they do have a right to be afraid. As anyone who's been following the political discussion about income inequality over the past few years knows, they are losing ground. The latest research shows that the incomes of the top 20% grew on average 42.6% since 1979, the middle only grew 9.5% and the bottom 20% actually fell by 2.7%. Many of these non-college educated white working class Trump fans are either in what we would call the lower middle class or among the lower 20%. If they are anxious you cannot blame them. On the other hand, there is an assumption that somehow Trump's message is speaking to this particular complaint and that is questionable. Trump, after all, is the guy who said in a debate in answer to a question about whether he supported a raise in the minimum wage that he not only didn't support the raise but that he thinks wages are already too high! He went on "Morning Joe" the next morning and made his case even more strenuously. It makes little sense that such a message would resonate with these white working class people who are flocking to his rallies. No, whatever is drawing them Trump it certainly isn't the fact that these people are disaffected economically and Trump is offering them the road to riches. What if it isn't that these angry working class whites are attracted to Trump because he's giving voice to their economic problems at all, whether by offering some vague notion of "making America great again" or telling them their problems are caused by undocumented workers? What if their "anxiety" is really just about simple racism --- the fact that people they believe are inferior to them are becoming equal in society? That these white folks might sincerely be more upset about African Americans becoming equal or undocumented immigrants destroying "American culture" or Muslims worshipping a religion they find threatening and weird than their own economic well-being is an unsettling thought. But it's very hard to ignore the fact that in good times and bad it still exists. As Bouie wrote: These voters may feel anxious about their economic status. But they also hold racial and cultural resentments. They’re worried about their futures and they dislike immigrants, Muslims, and blacks. And Trump is pushing the racial and cultural resentment button a lot harder than he's pushing the economic button. In fact, he's pushing the resentment button so hard that it's activated some very serious racists who truly had been pushed to the fringes of the right wing fever swamps. According to a rather disturbing story this week in the Washington Post there has been a surge of excitement among white supremacists. It quotes a number of different leaders of the movement who are thrilled at the prospect of one of their "own" getting mainstream credibility. Trump is often said by his followers to be "saying what they're thinking." These racists feel exactly the same way.
Example context (in [_Commentary on Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor_](https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/bill-oreilly-why-the-voters-are-propelling-donald-trump))\ \ "Second, economic anxiety. Most Americans know someone who has gotten hammered in the marketplace. Most Americans do not have much money in the bank. Do the math. Trump says, he will punish concerns that steal American jobs and are unfair on the trade front. "\ \ _Speaker_: Bill O'Reilly (Host of Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor)\ _Date_: April 27, 2016
election integrity
_Surface forms_: election integrity; rigged election
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Voter suppression that targets people of color\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://electionsos.com/resource/accurately-reporting-on-election-threats-and-anti-democratic-lies/))\ \ “Election integrity” is a long-standing dog whistle phrase for targeting voters of color with accusations of voter fraud. This is part of a political strategy shared by politicians, political parties, and “extended party networks,” or groups of party-affiliated activists that push political parties to change behavior. In the post-Reconstruction South, white Democrats used the “election integrity” strategy to motivate the white public to disallow Black men from voting. Today, Republicans and Republican-backed activist networks are using “election integrity” claims to target Democratic voters, with particular emphasis on discrediting Black and Hispanic voters, in an attempt to de-legitimize any election Democrats carry. The purpose of “election integrity” claims are to create political justifications in the name of democratic security to limit access to the vote of political opponents. This is anti-democratic behavior.
Example context (in [_Press release before joint Congressional session to certify electoral college votes_](https://stauber.house.gov/media/press-releases/stauber-statement-joint-session-congress))\ \ "I fiercely supported President Donald Trump during his bid for re-election. I stood with the President in Duluth, Bemidji, Mankato and the Twin Cities because, like me, he understands and fights for our way of life. I share many of my constituents' disappointment with this election. I have serious concerns over election integrity and the significant, widespread abuses in our electoral system that have gone unchecked in many states and cities for decades."\ \ _Speaker_: Pete Stauber (Minnesota Representative)\ _Date_: January 6, 2021
entitlement programs
_Surface forms_: government entitlement program; government entitlement programs; entitlement program; entitlement programs; entitlement; entitlements
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: People who receive aid from government social aid programs, primarily minorities, are lazy and undeserving\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ [Romney quote] "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what...who believe they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them...". [Romney's speech] was a testament to the triumph of dogwhistle politics. How so, if Romney disparaged half the country and never mentioned race? On one level, the answer lies in the language of dependency, entitlement, and lack of responsibility. It's clear from his larger campaign that Romney understood the power of such coded language. He seemed to learn from the primary contest, where Newt Gingrish made hay by lambasting Obama as the food stamp president. Seeking to make welfare a major issue in the race, during the 2012 summer Romney produced several TV ads slamming Obama for allegedly ending the requirement that welfare recipients actively seek employment...It was for this relatively crude racial demagoguery that many commentators criticized Romney. His welfare ads were sharply attacked as dogwhistle politics... But there was another level of dog whistle politics evident in Romney's campaign, a deeper connection far more consequential to the middle class yet completely unseen by most critics. Romney's true debt to dog whistle politics lay in his ability to garner widespread support while espousing plutocratic priorities...he would pare government entitlement programs that transferred resources to the least productive elements in society.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech_](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mittromneyentitlementsociety.htm))\ \ "President Obama sees America differently. He believes in an entitlement society...Even if we could afford the ever-expanding payments, an "entitlement society" is a fundamental corruption of the American spirit. The battle we face today is more than a fight over our budget, it’s a battle for America’s soul. We can’t begin to answer the question of who should be our next President until we start asking ourselves, "Who are we as Americans, and what kind of America do we want for our children?" I know that my answers to those questions are very different than those of the current President of the United States...He pushed through ObamaCare, an entitlement program we didn’t want and can’t afford. He’s refused to advance a responsible plan to strengthen existing entitlements. "\ \ _Speaker_: Mitt Romney (2012 Republican Presidential Nominee)\ _Date_: December 20, 2011
entitlement spending
_Surface forms_: entitlement spending; government spending; government entitlement spending
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Government social aid programs, perceived to primarily help minorities, are destroying the country's economy\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ With help from the Heritage Foundation, Bush pushed through one of the biggest tax cuts with the bold prediction that they would lead to economic growth sufficient to pay off the national debt by 2010. In 2007, with the budget deficit ballooning to historic highs, Heritage reversed course and looked to dog whistle appeals to cover up how wrong they and the Bush administration had been. Now, they claimed that it was "entitlement spending" that was dwarfing the "projected large revenue increases" that the tax cuts had supposedly generated. According to the rightwing narrative coming out of Heritage, the deficit was not the result of a massive transfer of wealth to the rich but of government social aid programs. Hesitancy regarding dog whistle politics may have increased, but oligarchy-friendly policies continued to need the cover provided by racial narratives about out of control liberal programs.
Example context (in [_Address to the Nation on the Economy_](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/address-nation-economy-february-1981))\ \ "Over the past decades we've talked of curtailing government spending so that we can then lower the tax burden. Sometimes we've even taken a run at doing that. But there were always those who told us that taxes couldn't be cut until spending was reduced. Well, you know, we can lecture our children about extravagance until we run out of voice and breath. Or we can cure their extravagance by simply reducing their allowance...We must increase productivity. That means making it possible for industry to modernize and make use of the technology which we ourselves invented. That means putting Americans back to work. And that means above all bringing government spending back within government revenues, which is the only way, together with increased productivity, that we can reduce and, yes, eliminate inflation."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: February 5, 1981
erasing women
_Surface forms_: erasing women; erasure of women
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are threatening cis women's rights\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A conspiracy theory invented by TERFs that is essentially their version of the "great replacement" myth. The idea, as expressed by Saint Rowling, is that the trans-rights movement is "seeking to erode 'woman' as a political and biological class." What this means is that TERFs really don't like gender-inclusive language because it acknowledges the existence of trans and gender-diverse people. They insist that recognising trans women as women will render the word "woman" meaningless, allowing "men" (trans women) to force their way into women's sports, women's shelters, women's spots on public boards, and women's award nominations. This will somehow enable (cis) women to be subjugated as they have since time immemorial, except now the oppression is of an exceedingly vague, unverifiable nature. TERFs also object to language intended to be inclusive of trans men (on the rare occasion they acknowledge their existence). Phrases like "people who menstruate" and "pregnant people" acknowledge that trans men and AFAB enbies also experience menstruation and pregnancy, and that neither of those things are universal experiences even among cis women. Many cis women of child-bearing age don't have periods regularly or at all due to health conditions like polycystic ovary syndromeWikipedia and pretty much every cis women over the age of 50 no longer menstruates due to menopause. Defining womanhood by reproductive biology isn't helpful or all that feminist. As TERFs have it, however, inclusive language is a Very Bad Thing and an evil trans lobby plot. Fair Play for Women released a press statement ominously warning that the "very words we use to describe ourselves as a sex class are being erased." According to the group, phrases like "menstruator," "uterus-haver," and "people with a vagina" are a "dehumanising" affront to (cis) women, not a concise and practical way for media reports and health campaign literature to include trans and non-binary people. The alternative would be clunky wording like "cis women, trans men, and non-binary people with uteruses." Many of the phrases TERFs object to most vehemently aren't even used that much. No one refers to cis women as "cervix-owners" outside of narrow contexts like trying to educate people about the necessity of regular cervical cancer screenings. TERFs nonetheless screech that cis women are "losing the words we need to talk about our bodies, our needs and our rights." Nevermind what words trans people (who aren't really people after all /s) and many cis people might prefer to use to discuss their bodies, their needs, and their rights. Some of the more batshit, conspiracy-minded TERFs have even speculated that uterus transplants, artificial wombs, and other emerging reproductive technologies might allow "men" (a category which, in their bigoted minds, includes trans women) to somehow "erase women from existence completely."
Example context (in [_Opinion article for the Washington Times_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221114212322/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/12/the-erasure-of-women-is-escalating/))\ \ "Gender activists have pushed a sweeping piece of legislation—the misnamed Equality Act—which would enshrine their views in civil rights law. But as they work toward that goal, activists are focused on erasing women incrementally by slipping the same kind of language into bills moving through Congress now. "\ \ _Speaker_: Jay W. Richards and Jared Deckert (researchers at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank)\ _Date_: October 12, 2021
every single time
_Surface forms_: every single time; E.S.T; EST
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people cause all the problems\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ While 'every single time' is often used innocuously by non-racists, among the alt-right it is a code word for the International Jewish conspiracy, that Jews are behind everything that the alt-right hates. The use of this phrase or its abbreviation (E.S.T) can be discerned as racist when it is used in isolation with mention of antisemitism, mention of particular Jews acting badly, or racist memes.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/SonofTheWest35/status/1597243276368625664))\ \ "Every single time. This Tribe has nearly toppled The West. Most expelled people in human history. Epstein. Fried. Madoff. Weinstein. Biden's cabinet. Central Banks. Convid. 9/11. Now go back 4000 years. Kanye is right"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 28, 2022
FAFO
_Surface forms_: FAFO; F.A.F.O.
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal originating from "fuck around and find out"\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ FAFO is an acronym used by some Proud Boys, most notoriously by "Spazzo" at the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. It comes from outlaw biker terminology and stands for 'Fuck around and find out'
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/SteveInmanUIC/status/1336209512747831296))\ \ "#fafo then they act surprised every single time. [Link to video of a car running over a person] "\ \ _Speaker_: Steve Inman (sports commentator)\ _Date_: December 8, 2020
family values
_Surface forms_: family values; traditional family values
_Persona/In-Group_: homophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to gay marriage\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/family-values-conservatism-is-finally-dead.html))\ \ “Family values” politics, as the historian Seth Dowland has explained in his recent history of the movement, arose in the 1970s out of religious conservatives’ fears about how the social and political changes of the previous decade were altering traditional gender roles, loosening sexual norms, and weakening moral opposition to evils like homosexuality and pornography. The first time the GOP used this phrase was in its national platform in 1976, expressing its “concern for family values.” The statement went on to say, “it is imperative that our government’s programs, actions, officials and social welfare institutions never be allowed to jeopardize the family. We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them.” Arguing that the family—by which they meant the two-parent heterosexual unit with a male breadwinner and female homemaker—was under attack from Washington and Hollywood, religious conservatives partnered with the Republican Party to fuel a whole set of reactionary politics through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s that targeted feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment, public schooling and sex education, and abortion rights and gay rights, all through the language of “family values.”
Example context (in [_National Republican Party Platform_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-party-platform-1976))\ \ "As modern life brings changes in our society, it also puts stresses on families trying to adjust to new realities while maintaining cherished values. Economic uncertainty, unemployment, housing difficulties, women's and men's concerns with their changing and often conflicting roles, high divorce rates, threatened neighborhoods and schools, and public scandal all create a hostile atmosphere that erodes family structures and family values. Thus it is imperative that our government's programs, actions, officials and social welfare institutions never be allowed to jeopardize the family. We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them."\ \ _Speaker_: Republican Party\ _Date_: August 18, 1976
fatherless
_Surface forms_: fatherless; fatherless home; fatherless homes; fatherless child; fatherless children
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black men are irresponsible\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ [see absent father]
Example context (in [_Interview with Sean Hannity responding to Uvalde school shooting _](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-contributor-blames-fatherless-children-and-loss-religion-mass-school-shootings))\ \ "And you look across the board at things like the fact that, you know, we have the dissolution of the family in so many respects. We have fatherless children on the rise in America. We have the loss of religion in so many aspects of our country, where it was a foundation of our country at one time. You can't discount the rise of social media and the role that that has played in things like this."\ \ _Speaker_: Lara Trump (Fox contributor)\ _Date_: May 25, 2022
Federal Reserve
_Surface forms_: Federal Reserve; the Fed
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control all the money\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://politicalresearch.org/2018/01/12/steve-bannons-washed-out-antisemitism))\ \ Another approach by antisemites is to deploy conspiracy theories that name agents like like “international bankers” or organizations like the Federal Reserve. In the original form, for example, the Federal Reserve was accused of being formed by Jewish bankers. “International bankers” became a commonly used code word referring to Jews, as well. However, when someone invokes these conspiracy theories today, they may or may not be aware of these histories. Here, the background of the speaker is of importance; we should treat the use of these differently if a known antisemite like Duke invokes them, rather than if they are espoused by an otherwise unproblematic left-wing critic of globalization. However, the intention of the speaker does not necessarily have anything to do with the impact of the narrative. In both cases, the speaker is using the emotional power of the antisemitic narrative: an apocalyptic battle between a secretive evil elite and a virtuous people. And, intentionally or not, these narratives are also received by some listeners as code words: antisemites will understand that the Federal Reserve and the international bankers refer to the Jewish conspiracy. While it can be argued whether conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve, international bankers, or the New World Order constitute antisemitism when used by otherwise unproblematic actors, they are both politically fallacious world views, and anyone who takes antisemitism seriously would avoid the use of these terms and narratives because of their histories. In Bannon’s case, he has read the classics of reactionary nationalist literature, and understands very well that some of his listeners will interpret the constant invocations of classic antisemitic images and narratives to mean “the Jews.” Just as with his approach to ethno-nationalists, it appears that Bannon wants a “washed out” antisemitism, based directly on the antisemitic narrative structure and using its imagery (octopuses, puppet masters, cliques of international banker) while either naming individual Jews, or groups that others had previously been identified as Jewish (as the Frankfurt School, the Federal Reserve), as the villains. He is no doubt intentionally using these narratives to appeal to both antisemites and those who don’t understand the double meaning— while simultaneously inoculating against accusations of antisemitism.
Example context (in [_Speech at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)_](https://www.c-span.org/video/?522199-1/conservative-political-action-conference-steve-bannon-seth-dillon))\ \ "The biggest scam that they have, the biggest con, is not just the appropriations process and how they fund it, it's the Federal Reserve...That's where we have these insane bills of trillians of dollars because the Federal Reserve will float money. The Federal Reserve is not owned by the American people...We need to end the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve as usurped its power and the power of the American people and our elective representives. No. They do not have the consent of the American people, we will not comply, and it must be ended...The American people will control their own bank in their own currency. We are at war."\ \ _Speaker_: Steve Bannon\ _Date_: August 5, 2022
fellow white people
_Surface forms_: fellow white people; as a white person; (((dear white people))); fellow whites; (((fellow whites)))
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people are masquerading as white people in order to tell them what to do\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://forward.com/fast-forward/387372/what-does-fellow-white-people-mean-decoding-the-new-anti-semitic-alt-right/))\ \ One relatively new, particularly anti-Semitic, meme known as “fellow white people” requires some unpacking. It’s not new but has recently bubbled up to the surface again in recent weeks — and it promulgates the belief that Jews are merely “masquerading” as whites as a way to tear down the white nation from the inside. The meme is sometimes accompanied with a modified version of the “happy merchant” meme — picturing the hook-nosed anti-Semitic caricature wearing a “white” mask. The meme is meant to highlight what the “alt-right” sees as the “shapeshifting” and ultimately non-white nature of Jews. Jews, the thinking goes, call themselves white when they want to appeal to “fellow whites” — and call for things like immigration reform or civil rights — but also call themselves members of a minority class when it suits them. The broader debate around Jews and whiteness is fraught and breaks out within the Jewish community every few months. What this meme suggests is that, regardless of what any Jew may feel, the “alt-right” sees them as non-whites.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221201222643/https://twitter.com/Rhinophobe1488/status/1586042974047457280))\ \ "Why are jews now saying they arent white in order to claim a status of victimhood? For years, i kept seeing them refer to europeans as "fellow white people" when they wanted to fight our supposedly privilege. What changed? #TheNoticing"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 28, 2022
fishbucket
_Surface forms_: fishbucket; fishbuckets
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-LGBTQ\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Lesbian\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a lesbian
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/Dia6olo1/status/1278292276167483393))\ \ "Police are awesome! I fully support them beating up butterflies, fishbuckets, durdens and witches such as yourself 🌝"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: July 1, 2020
food stamp president
_Surface forms_: food stamp president; food-stamp president
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Obama is giving free handouts to other Black people\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dog_Whistle_Politics/20QSDAAAQBAJ))\ \ Consider Newt Gingrich's repeated besmirching of Obama as "the most successful food stamp president im American history"... Of course the barbed point of those three words--food stamp president-- was to link Obama to indolent blacks on welfare, and to communicate that Gingrich would stand with hardworking whites who earn paychecks.
Example context (in [_Interview on NBC News's Meet The Press_](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43022759))\ \ " [Video from speech in Georgia] REP. GINGRICH: You want to be a country that creates food stamps, in which case frankly Obama's is an enormous success. The most successful food stamp president in American history. Or do you want to be a country that creates paychecks? MR. GREGORY: First of all, you gave a speech in Georgia with language a lot of people think could be coded racially-tinged language, calling the president, the first black president, a food stamp president. REP. GINGRICH: Oh, come on, David. MR. GREGORY: What did you mean? What was the point? REP. GINGRICH: That's, that's bizarre. That--this kind of automatic reference to racism, this is the president of the United States. The president of the United States has to be held accountable. Now, the idea that--and what I said is factually true. Forty-seven million Americans are on food stamps. One out of every six Americans is on food stamps. And to hide behind the charge of racism? I have--I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist."\ \ _Speaker_: Newt Gingrich (Former Georgia representative and House Speaker)\ _Date_: May 15, 2011
food stamps
_Surface forms_: food stamps; food stamp
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Government assistance for minorities\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/8-sneaky-racial-code-words-and-why-politicians-love-the-1790874941))\ \ [Modern equivalent of welfare] Welfare, says López, was broadly supported during the New Deal era when it was understood that people could face hardships in their lives that sometimes required government assistance, and, in fact, was purposely limited to white recipients. In this context, it wasn't heavily stigmatized. Fast-forward to the 1960s, when Lyndon Johnson made it clear that he wanted it to have a racial-justice component. "Then it becomes possible for conservatives to start painting welfare as a transfer of wealth to minorities," says Lopez. Remember those Reagan speeches about welfare queens? Today, says López, we hear "food stamps" used similarly.
Example context (in [_Commentary on Fox News Show The Five_](https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/does-obama-care-more-about-entitlements-than-us-military.amp))\ \ "To my good friend, my good liberal friend here, the SNAP program, it's not called food stamps anymore. It's called SNAP -- supplemental what? And nutrition. What about liquor, lap dances, and pot is nutritional?"\ \ _Speaker_: Eric Bolling (co-host of The Five on Fox News)\ _Date_: February 25, 2014
forced busing
_Surface forms_: forced busing; forced bussing; mandatory busing; mandatory bussing
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to racial integration\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/8-sneaky-racial-code-words-and-why-politicians-love-the-1790874941))\ \ López calls this phrase, which, on its face, was racially neutral, "the Northern analog of states' rights," which "allowed the North to express fevered opposition to integration without having to mention race." After all, kids had been bused to school for quite a while. It was only when the plan took on a racial edge that it became controversial. Politicians didn't have to say that outright, though—they simply dropped in the phrase to trigger resentment and gain supporters.
Example context (in [_Televised speech campaigning for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination_](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/restore-america))\ \ "Quality has declined as federal intervention has increased. Nothing has created more bitterness, for example, than forced busing to achieve racial balance. It was born of a hope that we could increase understanding and reduce prejudice and antagonism. And Im sure we all approved of that goal. But busing has failed to achieve the goal. Instead, it has increased the bitterness and animosity it was supposed to reduce. Californias Superintendent of Public Instruction, Wilson Riles (himself a Black), says The concept that Black children cant learn unless they are sitting with white children is utter and complete nonsense. Well, I agree. The money now being wasted on this social experiment could be better spent to provide the kind of school facilities every child deserves. Forced busing should be ended by legislation if possible by constitutional amendment if necessary. And, control of education should be returned to local school districts."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: March 31, 1976
forced diversity
_Surface forms_: forced diversity
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Diversity is making things worse\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Forced diversity is a dog whistle used by the alt-right, which claims that the social justice warriors are ruining mainstream media with identity politics and with fewer neurotypical, white, heterosexual men in films, video games, TV shows and comic books.
Example context (in [_Reddit comment on r/movies_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202202141/https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/55cnmo/tim_burtons_latest_film_doesnt_just_lack/))\ \ "are you kidding? And why the hell you need diversity in EVERY SINGLE MOVIE?! Even if this is baes on novel? Why force it? And There was Samuel L. Jackson so it´s not like there was noone... You dont need FORCED diversity in every single movie even in movies and stories where it just doesn´t make any sense (norse gods being black.. ?). Would you dare to cast some african tribe god as white man? Would you call for diversity in there? Would you need diversity in their stories, or cast a white man as chief or something?"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 1, 2016
free helicopter rides
_Surface forms_: free helicopter rides; helicopter rides
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Let's kill our political opponents\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A meme where members of the alt-right "joke" about giving leftists "free helicopter rides" (read: executing their political opponents). This is in reference to the extrajudicial executions (death flights) during the Dirty War in Argentina and following the 1973 Chilean coup. Political opponents of Argentina's Admiral Luis María Mendía and Chile's Augusto Pinochet were flown over the ocean in an airplane or helicopter and pushed to their death. This meme seemed to gain popularity early in Donald Trump's campaign, when he gave helicopter rides to children at the Iowa State Fair. To Trump's credit, he did not murder them.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202203845/https://twitter.com/Anti__Globalism/status/1574559213191569410))\ \ "Free helicopter rides for all communist subversives... It's only a matter of time before a leader like Pinochet rises up in America to pushback against the godless communist demons destroying the country..."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 26, 2022
freedom of association
_Surface forms_: freedom of association
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Support for racial segregation\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dog_Whistle_Politics/20QSDAAAQBAJ))\ \ The right of individuals to be free from government coercion in choosing whom to let onto their property but in the South this meant first and foremost the right of businesses to exclude black people from their establishments.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech in Chicago_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202204009/https://prism.lib.asu.edu/_flysystem/fedora/c332/FM_MSS1_136_3.pdf))\ \ "It is wrong to compel children to attend schools restricted to members of their own race, however that may be defined. It is also wrong to forbid children to attend schools restricted to members of another race. I condemn that sort of segregation because it is compulsory. There is another way that people may separate and distinguish themselves from each other. Far from being compulsory, it is the necessary result of freedom-the freedom of association. Throughout this land of ours, we find people forming churches, clubs, and neighborhoods with other families of similar beliefs, similar tastes, and similar ethnic backgrounds. No one would think of insisting that neighborhoods be "integrated" with fixed proportions of Anglo-Americans, German-Americans, Swedish-Americans-or of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. To me, it is wrong to take some children out of the schools they would normally attend and bus them to others-just to get a mixture of ethnic and racial groups that somebody thinks is desirable. This forced integration is just as wrong as forced segregation."\ \ _Speaker_: Barry Goldwater (Republican presidential candidate)\ _Date_: October 16, 1964
fren
_Surface forms_: fren; frens; fren world
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Self-referential term for white supremacists on the internet\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Fren is a corruption of the word "friend". It is a dog whistle used by a subsection of the alt-right, commonly found on the r/FrenWorld subreddit on Reddit. The idea is to talk like a small child or intellectually disabled person whilst still talking about general alt-right bigotry, the pattern of which emerged with the aforementioned Apu Apustaja meme. Closely connected to the honkler/Clown World memes; the Honkler and other Pepes can be seen in many of their memes. After the CringeAnarchy subreddit was shut down when the moderators refused to delete posts calling for genocide, many users migrated to the r/FrenWorld,which was itself shut down in June 2019. This word is also used by fans of the band Twenty One Pilots, so check context.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202211312/https://twitter.com/_XApeiron_/status/1595559919176093698))\ \ "I was trying to take a Twitter break but how can I when Nick Fuentes is now best frens with the greatest artist of all time Ye (AKA Kanye West)??? This is the biggest groyper W times 6 million‼️"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 23, 2022
frog emoji
_Surface forms_: 🐸 ; frog emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal, representing Pepe the Frog\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ 🐸 is the emoji form of Pepe.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/JackSutter/status/1325155604768305152))\ \ "I'd like to take a moment to say, the media declaring Biden winner means nothing. They said Trump colluded with Russia too. How true was THAT? Don't let the fuckers get you down, we're in as strong a position as is possible. We won. Now we just have to prove it. 🐸👌"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 7, 2020
gangbanger
_Surface forms_: gangbanger; gangbangers; gang banger; gang bangers
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black man\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dog_Whistle_Politics/20QSDAAAQBAJ))\ \ Terms like gangbanger and sharia law superficially reference behavior and religion. Even as these terms agitate racial fears, for many voters this thin patina suffices to obscure from them the racial nature of their attitudes.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220521152517/https://twitter.com/EspositoforNY/status/1528034103064465411))\ \ "This gangbanger was on probation for a prior charge & shot an NYPD officer in the leg. Now, the charges against him were dropped!? We must back the blue & put the safety of law-abiding NYers before criminals. NY's streets will never be secure if criminals & cop shooters go free. [Quote Tweet of NYPost, "Charges dropped against teen rapper accused of shooting NYPD officer" with mugshot of a Black man]"\ \ _Speaker_: Alison Esposito (former New York Lieutenant Governor candidate\ _Date_: May 21, 2022
gender abolition
_Surface forms_: gender abolition; abolish gender
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Only sex assigned at birth matters\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Often used as a dog whistle for TERFs. The reasoning is that gender is "just" a set of stereotypes, and that it shouldn't matter. Only sex that is assigned at birth should matter, therefore, it's fine to discriminate and stereotype based on the latter. Note that the expression is however sometimes used by well-meaning individuals as well. The term originally referred to a type of feminism that opposes "gender" in the sense of gender roles and having gender determine everything about an individual's selfhood, and believe a society moving beyond that would be better for everyone including trans people (some of whom support the actual philosophy). Ironically, TERFs tend to believe in gender essentialism, and strictly tying someone's identity to their birth sex, no matter what they claim on paper.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202221617/https://twitter.com/SophieXY44/status/1275991206598754304))\ \ "We’re supposed to be shattering the boxes society puts us in, not trying to hop in our neighbor’s box. Embrace your sex, abolish gender, liberate yourself. Let’s go!"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 24, 2020
gender abolitionist
_Surface forms_: gender abolitionist; gender abolitionists
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal based on belief that only sex assigned at birth matters\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Often used as a dog whistle for TERFs. The reasoning is that gender is "just" a set of stereotypes, and that it shouldn't matter. Only sex that is assigned at birth should matter, therefore, it's fine to discriminate and stereotype based on the latter. Note that the expression is however sometimes used by well-meaning individuals as well. The term originally referred to a type of feminism that opposes "gender" in the sense of gender roles and having gender determine everything about an individual's selfhood, and believe a society moving beyond that would be better for everyone including trans people (some of whom support the actual philosophy). Ironically, TERFs tend to believe in gender essentialism, and strictly tying someone's identity to their birth sex, no matter what they claim on paper.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220406111624/https://twitter.com/bindelj/status/1511663871060320261))\ \ "A reminder as to why I have never described myself as 'gender critical' (so please don't put that label on me...) Why? As an example, I am a secularist, and say I don't believe in God. I would not say I am 'God critical'. I am a gender abolitionist. I don't believe in it"\ \ _Speaker_: Julie Bindel (writer)\ _Date_: April 6, 2022
gender critical
_Surface forms_: gender critical; gender-critical feminism; GC; gender crit; gendercrits; #gendercrit
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Self-referential term for transphobic people\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ This doesn’t mean that the person is critical of oppressive genders like cis men, far from it. Nor does it mean they are critical of the suffocating patriarchal gender binary. No. It means they are a trans exclusionary reactionary transphobe.On social media this is often accompanied by a black and white racing flag in the username or bio. This indicates that they believe there are only 2 sexes/genders.
Example context (in [_Blog Post_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202145551/https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/))\ \ "Political parties seeking to appease the loudest voices in this debate are ignoring women’s concerns at their peril. In the UK, women are reaching out to each other across party lines, concerned about the erosion of their hard-won rights and widespread intimidation. None of the gender critical women I’ve talked to hates trans people; on the contrary. Many of them became interested in this issue in the first place out of concern for trans youth, and they’re hugely sympathetic towards trans adults who simply want to live their lives, but who’re facing a backlash for a brand of activism they don’t endorse."\ \ _Speaker_: J.K. Rowling\ _Date_: June 10, 2020
gender fandom
_Surface forms_: gender fandom
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are ridiculous\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A euphemism equating the trans rights movement with participation in fandom - i.e., support for something fictional, and with accompanying stereotypes of fans being entitled, irrational, and antisocial.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220826122125/https://twitter.com/terfology/status/1563120553686609921))\ \ "people in the gender fandom are so attention starved everything they do is just to signal to people that they’re so unique and different bc they have nothing else to offer. they hate themselves and they hate that they’re normies with no real problems cause no one gaf about them"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 26, 2022
gender ideology
_Surface forms_: gender ideology; gender identity ideology; radical gender ideology
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are threatening our way of life\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ According to TERFs and alt-righters, trans people have an agenda and/or ideology to: - confuse, trick, and make cis people uncomfortable - invade cis people's bathrooms - feminize men - erase the meaning of "woman" by letting trans women use the term "woman" - turn cis lesbians into straight women and then replace lesbians with "fake" trans lesbians - destroy lesbianism by pushing young AFAB individuals into calling themselves "non-binary", "trans men", "queer", "pansexual" instead of the classical "lesbian" - cause a genocide of homosexual people by pressuring them to transition, such as in Iran
Example context (in [_Letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, re-circulated in press release_](https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-demand-answers-about-bidens-proposed-title-ix-gender-identity-rule-in-schools))\ \ "Equally disturbing is the likelihood that your department will weaponize Title IX to force a radical gender ideology in K-12 classrooms. A number of troubling incidents suggest how your interpretation of Title IX could erode women’s rights, free-speech rights, parental rights, and children’s safety and innocence"\ \ _Speaker_: Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) \ _Date_: July 28, 2022
gender skeptical
_Surface forms_: gender skeptical; gender skeptic; gender skeptics
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Self-referential term for transphobic people\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ See gender critical
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221202223203/https://twitter.com/Alex37731/status/1595783961929719808))\ \ "Looks like she went into it believing JKR had said troubling things, & started w/ the belief that trans activism is about being kind/ending bigotry. She learned that the issues were FAR more complex. Trans activism harms dysphoric/trans ppl far more than any gender skeptic could."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 24, 2022
gender socialization
_Surface forms_: gender socialization; male socialization; female socialization; socialized as male; socialized as female; gender socialisation; male socialisation; female socialisation; socialised as male; socialised as female
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans men will always be women, and trans women will always be men\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ The idea that everyone is raised in the gender role relating to their assigned sex at birth, and it is impossible to overcome this socialization as an adult. In other words trans women are socialized as males and will always act like men, and trans men are socialized as females and will always act like women. This apparently includes people who socially transition in early childhood. "Gender socialization" is a very popular concept among Russian TERFs, who talk about female gender socialization and male gender socialization.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221208043618/https://twitter.com/terfyterferson/status/1007794211054374912))\ \ "Yeah, not exactly. You don’t speak for women. You were socialized as male. I don’t hate you or deny your existence, I just don’t appreciate biological males taking over female spaces, voices and pretending they speak for female experiences."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 15, 2018
genderfree
_Surface forms_: genderfree; genderless
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Self-referential term for transphobic people\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A euphemism that TERFs have started using to describe themselves, implying that gender is a set of stereotypes, should not matter, and the only thing that matters is sex assigned at birth.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221208044530/https://twitter.com/LilyLilyMaynard/status/1115722877796483073))\ \ "I am also joining the hordes coming out as #genderfree. For too long we have been oppressed with society’s sexist norms and values. Don’t you dare question my identity or my existence."\ \ _Speaker_: Lily Maynard (Blogger)\ _Date_: April 9, 2019
genderist
_Surface forms_: genderist; genderists
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people and allies\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A recent euphemism meaning a person who believes that gender is a spectrum and/or supportive of trans rights, though not always.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220518181354/https://twitter.com/SoniaPoulton/status/1441347036914196484))\ \ "The absolute nerve of Jeremy Vine and Owen Jones discussing male violence on women. Both of them are on the genderist bandwagon and no longer appear to know what a woman is. Using a woman's murder for views is abhorrent when it's attitudes like theirs that create problems for us."\ \ _Speaker_: Sonia Poulton (Journalist)\ _Date_: September 24, 2021
George Soros
_Surface forms_: George Soros; Soros
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person who controls the world\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.thedailybeast.com/theres-been-a-george-soros-for-every-era-of-antisemitic-panic))\ \ The current portraiture of Soros, now ascendant if not dominant online, isn’t interested in that sort of complexity. For the far right, from Russia to central Europe and increasingly, America, Soros is the latest Jewish manipulator whose extreme wealth finances puppet groups and publications to drain the prosperity of the Herrenvolk. This cannot be dismissed as the preoccupation of ignorable fools on the internet, nor as the equivalent of liberal criticism of the Koch Brothers. Instead, the attack on Soros follows classic anti-Semitic templates, grimly recurrent throughout western history, and some of the most powerful geopolitical figures in the world are pushing it. It’s fueled by Soros’s political activism against a revanchist right eager to view the world in zero-sum racial terms that is on the march across Europe, America and beyond. “It’s important to distinguish between intent and effect. Of course a person who shares a conspiracy theory about George Soros may not intend to promulgate anti-Semitism, and of course not every Soros conspiracy theory is anti-Semitic. But the image of the rich, powerful Jew who manipulates social and political movements around the world for his own agenda is an ancient anti-Semitic trope,” said Aryeh Tuchman, the associate director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “Because Soros’s Jewish identity is so well known, we are concerned that conspiracy theories about George Soros may have the effect of reinforcing this trope and spreading it throughout the broader population,” Tuchman added. “This is especially true when other anti-Semitic tropes are woven in, such as claims that Soros controls the media or the banks, or when he is described using terms that harken back to medieval claims that Jews are evil, demonic, or agents of the Antichrist.”
Example context (in [_Radio Interview_](https://www.jta.org/2017/12/05/politics/roy-moore-suggests-george-soros-is-headed-for-hell))\ \ "“He is pushing an agenda and his agenda is sexual in nature, his agenda is liberal, and not what Americans need...It’s not our American culture. Soros comes from another world that I don’t identify with.”"\ \ _Speaker_: Roy Moore\ _Date_: December 4, 2017
ghetto
_Surface forms_: ghetto; ghettos; ghettoes
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Low-income Black neighborhood\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ Ghetto is a racist and classist term that has become shorthand for a poor and Black neighborhood that white people should disparage, dismiss and fear— one that government policy has had no role in creating and cannot do anything to “save.” It is a way of giving society permission to neglect or punish Black families. It should not be used by people who do not live in those communities, not even in jest or for “ironic” effect.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech_](https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/27/politics/donald-trump-ghettos-african-americans/index.html))\ \ "And we’re going to work on our g-ghettos, are so–The– you take a look at what’s going on, whether you have pockets of, areas of land where you have the inner cities and you have so many things, so many problems. So many horrible, horrible problems...The violence. The death. The lack of education. No jobs. We’re going to work with the African-American community and we’re going to solve the problem of the inner city."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 27, 2016
gibsmedat
_Surface forms_: gibsmedat; gibs; gib me dat
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black people are entitled and depend on government benefits\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Gibsmedat is a mocking term for African Americans, as an attempted imitation of someone speaking an archaic form of African American Vernacular English, that was used in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), saying, "Give me that." Used to imply that black people are dependent on government largesse, have a strong sense of entitlement, and/or are inclined to robbery and theft. Sometimes government benefits are derivatively referred to as gibs.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221111061819/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1287824348460593154))\ \ "Das Kapital in a Nutshell. [Following text superimposed on image of Karl Marx] "Gib me dat for free -Hungry Santa""\ \ _Speaker_: Elon Musk\ _Date_: June 27, 2020
global elite
_Surface forms_: global elite; global elites; international elite; international elites
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ Much like dual loyalty, globalist is used to promote the antisemitic conspiracy that Jewish people do not have allegiance to their countries of origin, like the United States, but to some worldwide order—like a global economy or international political system—that will enhance their control over the world’s banks, governments, and media (see control). The idea of a Jewish globalist was embedded in the core ideology of Nazism. Hitler often portrayed Jews as “international elements” who “conduct their business everywhere,” posing a threat to all people who are “bounded to their soil, to the Fatherland.” Today, globalist is a coded word for Jews who are seen as international elites conspiring to weaken or dismantle “Western” society using their international connections and control over big corporations (see New World Order)—all echoing the destructive theory that Jews hold greed and tribe above country.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221226211422/https://twitter.com/PeterSweden7/status/1596466787335512064))\ \ "The lockdowns was a scam to transfer wealth from you - To the global elites "\ \ _Speaker_: Peter Imanuelsen (aka Peter Sweden, far-right activist and self-proclaimed Swedish journalist)\ _Date_: November 26, 2022
globalism
_Surface forms_: globalism
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish interests\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.adl.org/resources/report/quantifying-hate-year-anti-semitism-twitter))\ \ A noteworthy anti-Semitic theme in 2017 was the use of the term “globalist” as an anti-Semitic slur. Although the term is not inherently anti-Semitic, “globalist” is often used as a pejorative term for people whose interests in international commerce or finance ostensibly make them disloyal to the country in which they live, or who are willing to undermine the financial security of their neighbors in order to benefit transnational interests. Because of the long history of anti-Semitic associations of Jews with money and commerce, and allegations that Jews place their transnational ethnic affiliations ahead of the interests of their non-Jewish neighbors, these pejorative subtexts quickly take on anti-Semitic connotations when the term is applied to individual Jews, groups of Jews, or places where Jews are known to live (i.e. “New York globalists”). Anti-Semites frequently use the term “Globalist” as a code word for Jews.
Example context (in [_Speech at National Conservatism Conference_](https://www.hawley.senate.gov/senator-hawley-delivers-national-conservatism-keynote-lefts-attack-men-america))\ \ "Domestic manufacturing once supported millions of American men with good wages, who in turn started and supported families. Now that industry lies all but dead on the altar of globalism. "\ \ _Speaker_: Josh Hawley (Missouri Senator)\ _Date_: November 1, 2021
globalist
_Surface forms_: globalist; globalists
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2020-10-21/ty-article/.premium/jewish-democrats-attack-trump-for-calling-biden-a-servant-of-the-globalists/0000017f-f50f-d044-adff-f7ffa8d50000))\ \ [Haaretz] White nationalists and conspiracy theorists often use the term “globalist” interchangeably with “Jewish” to promote the belief that Jews put greed and tribe ahead of their country. Sometimes the word is used as a code word for “Jewish,” while sometimes it’s an adjective descriptor in the phrase “globalist Jews.” The word is frequently evoked in conspiracy theories featuring Jewish billionaire George Soros as the leader of an international Jewish cabal that controls financial institutions and the media. According to the ADL, “because of the long history of anti-Semitic associations of Jews with money and commerce, and allegations that Jews place their transnational ethnic affiliations ahead of the interests of their non-Jewish neighbors, these pejorative subtexts quickly take on anti-Semitic connotations.” According to the ADL, “because of the long history of anti-Semitic associations of Jews with money and commerce, and allegations that Jews place their transnational ethnic affiliations ahead of the interests of their non-Jewish neighbors, these pejorative subtexts quickly take on anti-Semitic connotations.”
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech_](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-campaign-rally-greenville-nc-transcript-october-15))\ \ "Biden's a servant of the wealthy donors and globalists and special interests who got rich bleeding America dry, taking your jobs from North Carolina and every other place and moving them out of the country"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 15, 2020
Goody
_Surface forms_: Goody
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal insinuating that cis women are being persecuted\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ "Goody" was the short form of "Goodwife," an archaic honorific used to address women in England, Scotland, and the United States up until the 19th century. It was roughly equivalent to the modern "Ms." or "Mrs." since it was usually (but not always) applied to married women. TERFs often use it before their surnames or account names (e.g., "Goody Rowling") as a reference to Goody Ann Glover, who, in 1688, was hanged as a witch in Boston, the last person to suffer such a fate in the city. The insinuation is that TERFs are also innocent women being persecuted by trans women in exceedingly vague and unverifiable ways.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1280834668552769536))\ \ "You’re still following me, Jennifer. Be sure to publicly repent of your association with Goody Rowling before unfollowing and volunteer to operate the ducking stool next time, as penance."\ \ _Speaker_: JK Rowling\ _Date_: July 8, 2020
Google
_Surface forms_: Google; Googles
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a black person
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/AllThingTumblrs/status/783613208368189440))\ \ "Kill the Googles, gas the Skypes."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 5, 2016
government handout
_Surface forms_: government handout; government handouts; handout; handouts
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Any money that the government gives to support vulnerable people\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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" are never called "handouts", nor are the government's enormous subsidies to big business.
Example context (in [_Speech on Senate Floor_](https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2022/9/video-release-sen-rick-scott-senate-democrats-double-down-on-supersizing-irs-to-target-families-businesses))\ \ "Without a single Republican vote, Democrats authorized 87,000 more IRS agents – doubling the size of the agency – all to pull as many dollars as they can away from hardworking families and small businesses so they can fund liberal projects and appease their radical base with more government handouts."\ \ _Speaker_: Rick Scott (Florida Senator)\ _Date_: September 7, 2022
goy
_Surface forms_: goy; goyim
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: a non-Jew\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Goy))\ \ Goy is the Hebrew word for "nation", and it appears numerous times in the Bible, usually in the phrase "goy kadosh", which directly translates to "holy nation". In modern contexts, however, it refers to anyone who is not Jewish. Among Hebrew- and Yiddish-speakers the term is standard for referring to non-Jews, and has no racist or xenophobic connotations. English-speakers often regard the word as derogatory, and may employ the terms "gentile" or "non-Jew" instead. Google's dictionary defines the term as informal and derogatory. The Oxford English Dictionary regards the noun as often pejorative, but not the adjective. While Jewish people in the diaspora often frivolously use the term, the term is often employed by cranks, antisemites, and conspiracy theorists to make Jewish people sound racist. If someone uses the term "goy" in an argument having to do with the Federal Reserve, Israel, Zionism, or any other possible crank magnet, chances are you are arguing with a racist lunatic and it is not worth continuing. If they use any variation on the anti-semitic cliche "Oy vey, the goyim know, shut it down!", then those chances shoot up to a near-certainty. There is a recurring canard among conspiracy theorists and antisemites alike that the term "goyim" means "cattle" in Hebrew. The actual Hebrew word for "cattle" is "bakar". As noted above, the word 'goy' translates to "nation", including that of Israel. The term "shabbos goy" refers to a non-Jew who does work for Jews that observant Jews are otherwise not allowed to do during the Sabbath due to religious restrictions. Antisemites also often use the term to refer to people who are alleged to be doing the "dirty work" for the Jews.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221224210500/https://twitter.com/EMichaelJones1/status/1606006371928838144))\ \ "What he meant to say is that the Anti-Ukraine Right is anti-Jewish, since the Jews created this war. Kristol loves wars where the goyim die serving Jewish interests."\ \ _Speaker_: E. Michael Jones (Catholic traditionalist author)\ _Date_: December 22, 2022
groomers
_Surface forms_: groomer; groomers
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-LGBTQ\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: LGBTQ people are predators\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-so-many-conservatives-are-talking-about-grooming-all-of-a-sudden/))\ \ it’s a dog whistle to the party’s most extreme, conspiracy-minded base. The foundation of the QAnon conspiracy theory is that there is a mass, secret, underground ring of Satanic pedophiles whose members consist of Democratic leaders and Hollywood elites. Painting anyone who opposes Florida’s law (i.e., mainly Democrats) as being pro-grooming fits neatly into that narrative and winks at QAnon adherents without requiring politicians on the right to actually endorse the outlandish theory. But this rhetoric also harkens back to age-old attacks on the LGBTQ community. Casting LGBTQ people as child predators and their very existence as something inherently sexual was a tactic used by anti-LGBTQ activists since the 1970s in their efforts to stifle or roll back LGBTQ legal protections, according to Marie-Amélie George, a law professor at Wake Forest University who specializes in LGBTQ rights. George said that for a long time, many people believed that being gay was the result of child sexual abuse.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/TaylerUSA/status/1604148444829999106))\ \ "I have bad news for all the groomers and enablers— By the time I am done reporting on these “all ages” and “family friendly” drag shows in TX, they’re going to be illegal, and there is nothing you can do about it."\ \ _Speaker_: Tayler Hansen (Independent journalist)\ _Date_: December 17, 2022
grooming
_Surface forms_: grooming; anti-grooming
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-LGBTQ\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: LGBTQ people are predators\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/30/republicans-gop-party-children-abuse))\ \ The word “grooming” is now in wide circulation on the right ⁠ – a dogwhistle that implies basic education on LGBT identity and sex is priming kids for predation, perhaps at the hands of the Satanic sex traffickers at the heart of QAnon’s conspiracy theories.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221224114954/https://twitter.com/ChristinaPushaw/status/1499886619259777029))\ \ "The bill that liberals inaccurately call "Don't Say Gay" would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming bill. If you're against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don't denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn't make the rules"\ \ _Speaker_: Christina Pushaw (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's press secretary) \ _Date_: March 4, 2022
welfare reform
_Surface forms_: welfare reform, welfare overhaul
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Eliminate government aid to racial minorities\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://prospect.org/power/romney-s-race-based-initiative/))\ \ Many voters may not detect the subtle politics of race at work here, but it speaks clearly to the subsection of the public that equates redistribution with handouts to poor minorities… This reading is backed up by political science. As Martin Gilens notes in his 1999 book, Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy, there is a strong correlation between views on race and opposition to welfare. "Most white Americans believe that blacks are less committed to the work ethic than are whites, and this belief is strongly related to opposition to welfare," Gilens writes. This association began in the mid-1960s, when, Gilens notes, the ratio of African-Americans in photos attached to articles about poverty jumped drastically. Until then, Americans largely associated poverty with Appalachia, but as depictions of poverty changed, so did stereotypes. "Despite the fact that African Americans constitute only 36 percent of welfare recipients and only 27 percent of poor Americans, whites' attitudes toward poverty and welfare are dominated by their beliefs about blacks," Gilens says… Romney's motivation for racially motivated attacks is fairly simple. As Ruy Teixeira explains at The New Republic, the fate of his campaign hinges in part on his vote share among working-class whites. Obama lost this group by 18 percent in 2008, but they turned on Democrats by 30 points in 2010, handing Republicans control of the House. If Obama gets around 38 percent of the white vote in 2012, he should hold his spot in the White House. Romney isn't quite reaching an adequate level of support among those voters. White seniors are the other demographic Romney needs to win by a wide margin in November, a group also primed to be receptive to this rhetorical shift. To appeal to these voters and counter Obama's narrative that the economy is in the doldrums thanks to Wall Street profiteering, Romney has turned to the politics of downward resentment. The Romney campaign's characterization of Obama completes the picture-it portrays the president as an angry black man who is exacting racial revenge on whites by giving undeserving minorities your money. It plays straight into a stereotype of black men, an image Obama has distanced himself from.
Example context (in [_Campaign Ad_](https://archive.nytimes.com/campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/making-the-election-about-race/))\ \ "In 1996, President Clinton and a bipartisan Congress helped end welfare as we know it by requiring work for welfare. But on July 12, President Obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping the work requirement. Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you a welfare check. And welfare-to-work goes back to being plain old welfare. Mitt Romney will restore the work requirement because it works."\ \ _Speaker_: Mitt Romney (2012 Republican Presidential Nominee)\ _Date_: August 7, 2012
hard-working Americans
_Surface forms_: hardworking American; hardworking Americans; hard-working Americans; hard-working American
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White Americans\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ In her 2008 match-up against Obama for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton claimed that her white working-class support mad eher a stronger presidential contender. In that contest's waning days, Clinton used race to make a last ditch argument that she was more electable than Obama: "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she explained in an interview, citing a recent poll that she said "found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both [Indiana and North Carolina] who had not completed college were supporting me." Clinton's equation of "hard-working Americans" with "white Americans" struck many as a form of intentional dog whistling. Perhaps it was, though maybe this linkage was merely an unconscious slip, even if one that revealed the cultural power of the stereotypes contrasting supposedly hardworking whites and lazy blacks.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-october-3-2016))\ \ "We must bring the truth directly to hard-working Americans who want to take our country back. #BigLeagueTruth"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 3, 2016
he wuz a good boy
_Surface forms_: he was a good boy; he wuz a good boy
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black people are unintelligent and/or criminals\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ [This term] only mocks the dialect and culture of Black people, but also trivializes that communities' claims to injustice
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220622020754/https://twitter.com/MenegalliMaria/status/1539426065998921730))\ \ "Fking animals all of them!! And if they woulda got shot... "He wuz a good boy""\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: June 21, 2022
health freedom
_Surface forms_: health freedom; medical freedom
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-vax\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Anti-vax\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://storyful.com/blog/all/a-growing-vaxlash-the-rise-of-medical-freedom/))\ \ Since the start of the pandemic, “medical freedom” and the related term “health freedom” have been used by prominent public figures including politicians and influencers. In October 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and actress Candace Cameron Bure—D.J. Tanner from TV’s “Full House”—shared the most viral posts touting the idea…“Medical freedom” is an effective dog whistle for anti-vaxxers, and with its mainstreaming, it is becoming a potential gateway to anti-vax conspiracy theories. Hundreds of online communities flagging themselves as defenders of “health freedom” and “medical freedom” are a hotbed for conspiracy theories and medical misinformation: Events marked as “medical freedom” and “health freedom” occasionally signal anti-vax events or activities (e.g., seminars). Storyful has noted instances occurring on sites such as Eventbrite and AirBnB. For anti-vax activists the terms are an effective way to promote their arguments while avoiding spreading explicit misinformation. Some are using these arguments on “mainstream” platforms, while spreading blatant misinformation on platforms with loose moderation, such as Telegram.
Example context (in [_Ad paid for by The Daily Wire_](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=339163528016563))\ \ "The Daily Wire has officially filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration to challenge its tyrannical vaccine mandate. We are fighting for the medical freedom of all American citizens. Help us reach our signatures goal and tell Biden, “NO vaccine mandates.” Sign the petition today."\ \ _Speaker_: Candace Owens\ _Date_: December 2, 2021
healthy tissue
_Surface forms_: healthy tissue
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-vax\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: gender-confirming surgery is bad\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A dog whistle used to argue against gender-confirming surgery, saying that it removes "healthy tissue" thus is unethical and there's no medical need for it. Gender dysphoria isn't counted as a medical need - most TERFs either do not believe it exists, or think that it can be cured through drugs and talking therapies.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221225021256/https://twitter.com/Lachlan_Edi/status/1562713720719298561))\ \ "The essential demand for distressed gender incongruent youth is not a pathway to irreversible surgery on healthy tissue. It is for a universal, well resourced and accessible CAMHS, with direct access from primary care, social services, criminal justice and education services."\ \ _Speaker_: Lachlan Stuart (UK Labour policy adviser)\ _Date_: August 25, 2022
Hollywood elite
_Surface forms_: Hollywood elite; Hollywood elites; Hollywood; Hollywood liberals; Hollywood moguls
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people who control the media\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003200499-3/deep-state-child-sacrifices-plandemic-armin-langer))\ \ Antisemitic dogwhistle politics references certain people, terms, and narratives that may appear vague and harmless without context, but which signal a form of antisemitic hate speech. Dog-whistle is constantly used as a tactic by QAnon to denounce prominent Jewish public figures and the global Jewry in ways that are all too familiar. Since the encoded language within QAnon might not be apparent at first sight, this aspect needs further explanation. In the following, this chapter will present most common QAnon conspiracy myths and show how they apply a coded or suggestive antisemitic language… ...By 2020, QAnon followers were advancing a story that “Hollywood elites” were engaged in “adrenochrome harvesting,” in which the hormone adrenaline is extracted from tortured children’s blood to be oxidized into the psychoactive drug adrenochrome…Many of the “Hollywood elites” accused of committing these crimes against children are not Jewish. QAnon believers accused, for instance, Oprah Winfrey of being a key figure in their alleged vast sex trafficking ring. Nonetheless, the critique of the “liberal Hollywood elites” is rooted in antisemitism. As early as in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan complained about the “immoral films being produced by the ‘Jew-controlled’ Hollywood film industry.” The Dearborn Independent, a newspaper owned by industrialist Henry Ford, claimed that there was a “Jewish supremacy” which was under the control of the “Jewish manipulators of the public mind.” Even in the 1970s, Jews were accused by the American far-right of promoting “anti-Christian and anti-American pictures” (Gillis, 2017, pp. 267, 280). In 1964, 50% of Americans believed that “the Jews” controlled Hollywood; in 2008, this number went down to only 22%. But this is still a high number, as Anti-Defamation League chairman Abe Foxman pointed out. Although it is true that Jews are disproportionately represented in the American creative industry, Foxman said, the idea that “the Jews” control Hollywood is “very dangerous” (Stein, 2020). These antisemitic legends resonate well with QAnon’s claim of Hollywood actors harvesting adrenochrome from children.
Example context (in [_Facebook post_](https://www.facebook.com/GAGOP/photos/a.10150127909763714/10159261841038714/))\ \ "Hollywood elites continue to do everything they can to support Radical Raphael and Jon Ossoff, as the cast of Whose Line Is It Anyway? hosts a virtual fundraiser for Georgia’s radical liberal Democrat candidates for Senate. Just today, the San Francisco Chronicle reported: “Nearly 80% of the money raised in the fall campaign for Warnock, the Democrat running against Loeffler, came from outside Georgia. And again tonight, coastal elites will inject themselves into the Georgia runoffs to ensure Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi remain in power."\ \ _Speaker_: Georgia Republican Party\ _Date_: November 16, 2020
Holocauster
_Surface forms_: Holocauster; Holocausters
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Holocauster is another term for Jews, used to try to evade keyword filters while simultaneously trivializing the Holocaust.The term is frequently posted as a fake malapropism, conflating 'Hollister' (a city in California and a clothing brand name) with the word 'Holocaust', or 'roller coaster' with 'Holocaust'.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221225023323/https://twitter.com/Strom41661477/status/1436291940165713923))\ \ "Sorry to any true victims who aren't being taken care of but this is a huge fund and griping for more sounds like Holocauster's who can never get enough $$$$"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 10, 2021
hygienic
_Surface forms_: hygienic
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Term for cis people, implying that trans people are unhygienic\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A dog whistle used by TERFs on Tumblr as a replacement for "cis", usually in coded phrases like "hygienic female," "extremely hygienic," etc. The implication is that cis women are cleaner than trans women, playing on the stereotype that men have worse personal hygiene than women. TERFs of course view trans women as men. It's also based on a pathologization of transfeminine bottom surgery. TERFs are morbidly fixated on a form of vaginoplasty sometimes used in gender-confirmation surgery. This procedure involves colon tissue grafts, as this allows the vagina to be self-lubricating. TERFs are convinced that all trans women undergo this procedure, and thus that their vaginas must be smelly and gross. It's also been noted that the term "hygienic" has an extremely problematic history.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210301123506/https://twitter.com/DipBrig11/status/1366364792563335173))\ \ "I’m sure the older people, especially Alzheimer’s sufferers, will be thrilled to have this technicolour berk waving his pronouns & proclivities in their faces. Rather know whether he has had the Covid vaccine tbh. Functional, not to mention hygienic, uniforms in work surely?"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 1, 2021
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
_Surface forms_: I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
_Persona/In-Group_: religious\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Reference to biblical passage to signal that the speaker is a religious Christian\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-013-9265-x))\ \ Ronald Reagan used language in his 1984 State of the Union address that closely paralleled another biblical passage: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7)
Example context (in [_State of the Union address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-4))\ \ "Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith. "\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: January 25, 1984
I Love J.K. Rowling
_Surface forms_: I Love J.K. Rowling; I Love JK Rowling; I Love Rowling; #ILoveJKRowling; I Stand with Rowling; I Stand with J.K. Rowling; I Stand with JK Rowling; #IStandWithJKRowling
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal by referring to supporting JK Rowling, who has publicly communicated transphobic views \ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ "I Love J. K. Rowling" was once a sentiment shared by millions of Harry Potter fans. However, Rowling dropped the mask and revealed herself to be a TERF in late 2019, confirming years of speculation based on dodgy Twitter likes and follows. The phrase has since become a coded way for transphobes to propagate their views while seemingly expressing simple fondness of a popular author. Billboards and signs featuring the phrase have been commissioned by transphobes such as Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.[6][55] A cottage industry of stickers, shirts, and other junk featuring the phrase has sprung up. Now TERFS are more likely to enthusiastically proclaim their love of J. K. Rowling than Harry Potter fans. The variant "I Stand With Rowling" is also commonly used.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220830210137/https://twitter.com/CaitlinPacific/status/1564432155161137152))\ \ "#IStandWithJKRowling because she wrote a series of books that made readers out of millions of children and adolescents. And she has every right to express her opinion on cultural matters. And because she's right about them."\ \ _Speaker_: Caitlin Flanagan (writer)\ _Date_: August 29, 2022
identify as
_Surface forms_: identify as
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are ridiculous\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ourspectrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Media-Style-Guide_horizontal.pdf))\ \ phrases designed to sound welcoming while referencing their belief that trans gender identity is a dangerous delusion
Example context (in [_Reddit comment on r/askgaybros_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221225104212/https://www.reddit.com/r/askgaybros/comments/s3nqxs/do_you_believe_the_non_binary_label_is_real_and/))\ \ "You can identify as a VW Golf for all I care, makes no odds to me. Doesn't make you a VW Golf, though."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: January 14, 2022
identitarianism
_Surface forms_: identitarianism; identitarian; identitarians
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Nazism\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Identitarianism is a synonym for Nazism that sounds less Nazi-like. From the main Wikipedia page for "identitarianism": The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories claimed to belong exclusively to them. Originating in France as Les Identitaires ("The Identitarians"), with its youth wing Generation Identity, the movement expanded to other European countries during the early 21st century. Building on ontological ideas of the German Conservative Revolution, its ideology was formulated from the 1960s onward by essayists such as Alain de Benoist, Dominique Venner, Guillaume Faye and Renaud Camus, who are considered the main ideological sources of the movement. Identitarians promote concepts such as pan-European nationalism, localism, ethnopluralism, remigration, or the Great Replacement, and they are generally opposed to globalisation, multiculturalism, Islamization and extra-European immigration. Influenced by New Right metapolitics, they do not seek direct electoral results, but rather to provoke long-term social transformations and eventually achieve cultural hegemony and popular adhesion to their ideas.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/wayotworld/status/1160254734672027648))\ \ "The reaction to my latest video is baffling. There are apparently hundreds of MAGApedes who have been following me for years who have only just worked out I am an identitarian."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 10, 2019
illegal aliens
_Surface forms_: illegal aliens; illegal alien; criminal illegal aliens; criminal illegal alien; criminal alien; criminal aliens
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Latino\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Dangerous undocumented brown people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://money.cnn.com/2016/10/19/news/dog-whistle-trump-clinton/ ))\ \ [CNN Money] this language represents "the boogey man of 2016" and casts undocumented immigrants as "inherently criminal" and as "dark skinned Latinos without documents preying on good decent hardworking white Americans." The term helps Trump "justify his comments about Mexican immigrants being rapists and murderers," said Lauth, by making an emotional appeal to Americans who are frustrated with Mexican immigrants "taking our jobs."
Example context (in [_Presidential Debate_](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/full-transcript-first-2016-presidential-debate-228761 ))\ \ "We have many criminal illegal aliens. When we want to send them back to their country, their country says we don't want them. In some cases, they're murderers, drug lords, drug problems."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: September 27, 2016
illegal immigrant
_Surface forms_: illegal immigrant; illegal immigrants; illegals
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Latino\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Latino, especially Mexican, immigrants regardless of documentation\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ Illegal immigrant" is supposed to describe someone who migrates to the US without legal authority. But it's in fact used to describe a particular group of people: Latinos, in particular Mexicans — even though many unauthorized immigrants can and do come from places outside Latin America. In White Backlash, UC Berkeley political scientists Zoltan Hajnal and Marisa Abrajano noted the phenomenon: "Americans tend to reserve their most negative sentiments for so-called illegal immigrants, but when asked about immigrants as a whole, Mexican Americans, or even Latinos, the answers tend not to differ all that much." Haney-López explained that this is a classic use of coded language. Since it's describing an action, politicians can say they're targeting criminal wrongdoing, not a certain group of people. But what they're really tapping into is fears of brown people flooding across the border and reshaping the US from the inside.
Example context (in [_Discussion on Fox & Friends (Fox News)_](https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-and-friends-host-brian-kilmeade-warns-your-children-will-go-to-school-with-illegals-who-dont-speak-english))\ \ "My question to you is what’s more important social programs for Americans, public schools for Americans or illegals who come here and need English as a second language. Need to be given public school. Need to be given tutoring help. Maybe need social programs to prop them up...It’s not just our border cities. They dump these illegals...in working-class areas without telling mayors or governors. Next thing you know you are sitting there and your kids come home and from school and there’s 10 extra kids in the school and they don’t speak English. "\ \ _Speaker_: Brian Kilmeade (co-host of Fox News program Fox & Friends)\ _Date_: April 2, 2019
Illuminati
_Surface forms_: Illuminati
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people who control the world\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ Historically, the Order of the Illuminati refers to a secret society founded in Bavaria by Adam Weishaupt in the late 18th to advocate for secularism. However, during the interwar period of the 20th century, fascist propaganda claimed the Illuminati were a subversive element which served Jewish elites who were behind global capitalism and Soviet communism (see Jewish capitalist, Jewish communist) and were plotting to create a New World Order (see New World Order). This conspiratorial stance on the Illuminati, as well as its related conspiracy theory of Freemason-controlling Jews, are built on classic antisemitic themes, including the notion of Jewish control over the world, the meddling by Jews in global politics, and the Jewish plot for complete power over world governance (see control).
Example context (in [_House of Commons debate about Brexit_](https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-09-03/debates/C4B0BE00-2E57-4FA4-8958-CD6F37711635/EuropeanUnion(Withdrawal)))\ \ "This motion also sets aside, in a new parliamentary Session, the Standing Orders that apply in relation to the presentation of private Members’ Bills. The motion would allow a designated Member—or a few of the Illuminati who are taking the powers to themselves—to give notice of the presentation of this Bill on the first day of a new Session and then provide time for debate on this Bill on the second day of the new Session, interrupting the Queen’s Speech debate."\ \ _Speaker_: Jacob Rees-Mogg (UK Member of Parliament)\ _Date_: September 3, 2019
implicit bias
_Surface forms_: implicit bias; implicit biases
_Persona/In-Group_: liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Racism\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://money.cnn.com/2016/10/19/news/dog-whistle-trump-clinton/))\ \ using the phrase "implicit bias" helps Clinton talk about racism in a way that may be easier for more conservative voters to accept, said Lauth, since it stems from subconscious prejudices that people are unaware they have. "The term implicit bias will satisfy a lot of people that are looking for a very explicit answer to the problem of police brutality," Lauth said. "It also helps her in walking that line between Blue Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter."
Example context (in [_Presidential Debate_](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/full-transcript-first-2016-presidential-debate-228761))\ \ "I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police. I think unfortunately, too many of us in our great country, um, jump to conclusions about each other. And therefore, I think we need all of us to be asking hard questions about, you know, Why am I feeling this way? But when it comes to policing, since it can have, literally, fatal consequences, I have said in my first budget, we would put money into that budget to help us deal with implicit bias by retraining a lot of our police officers. I’ve met with a group of very distinguished, experienced police chiefs a few weeks ago. They admit it’s an issue. They’ve got a lot of concerns."\ \ _Speaker_: Hillary Clinton\ _Date_: September 27, 2016
inner city
_Surface forms_: inner city; inner cities; inner-city; urban
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: African American neighborhoods\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-93794-6_16 ))\ \ On a 2014 radio program Representative Paul Ryan made the following statement, which was criticized shortly after by fellow Representative Barbara Lee as a “thinly veiled racial attack”. The “thin veil” refers to the phrase inner-city, which is code or euphemism for African American neighborhoods (especially stereotypically racialized views of such neighborhoods). Those aware of the dogwhistle heard Ryan promulgate the pernicious racial stereotype that African Americans are lazy. At the same time, Ryan maintained an amount of plausible deniability because this content was not explicit but only referenced a vague geographical location.
Example context (in [_Radio address, radio interview, presidential debate_](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-nation-welfare-reform https://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/ryan-generations-men-not-working-msna284561 https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/full-transcript-first-2016-presidential-debate-228761 ))\ \ "Today I'd like to speak to you about a gathering crisis in our society: It's a family crisis. To some it's hidden, concealed behind tenement walls or lost in the forgotten streets of our inner cities [Ronald Reagan, 1986, radio address] We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work [Paul Ryan, 2014, radio interview] We have a situation where we have our inner cities, African-Americans, Hispanics, are living in hell, because it’s so dangerous... Right now, our police, in many cases, are afraid to do anything. We have to protect our inner cities, because African-American communities are being decimated by crime. [Donald Trump, 2016, presidential debate]"\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan; Paul Ryan; Donald Trump\ _Date_: February 15, 1986; March 12 2014; September 27, 2016
institution of marriage
_Surface forms_: institution of marriage; traditional marriage
_Persona/In-Group_: homophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to gay marriage\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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".
Example context (in [_Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-tampa))\ \ "As president, I will protect the sanctity of life. I will honor the institution of marriage. And I will guarantee America's first liberty: the freedom of religion."\ \ _Speaker_: Mitt Romney (2012 Republican Presidential Nominee)\ _Date_: August 30, 2012
intact
_Surface forms_: intact male; intact female; intact man; intact woman
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people who haven't had bottom surgery aren't real trans people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ What they mean is have you had bottom surgery and if you haven’t, then you can’t possibly be trans and you must be faking it to gain access to vulnerable people. Even if you’ve had bottom surgery, they still won’t accept you as a man or a woman.An important side note here: having surgery or not doesn’t make you any less trans or nonbinary.
Example context (in [_Tweet _](https://twitter.com/millihill/status/1505791342043148288))\ \ "Interesting seeing talk online about how extreme my position is from people defending a fully intact male taking women's swim medals and an aggressive man with a beard speaking about 'womanhood' at a herstory festival. I'm not sure I'm the one who's been radicalised."\ \ _Speaker_: Milli Hill (author)\ _Date_: March 20, 2022
international bankers
_Surface forms_: international banks; international bankers; international banker
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people who control all the money\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/11/7/13549154/dog-whistles-campaign-racism))\ \ While many people might hear "international banks" quite literally, or maybe as an allusion to Clinton’s ties to foreign financial interests in general, anti-Semites hear something very different. After all, the supposed existence of a cabal of international Jewish bankers working to undermine US democracy is a recurring theme in American anti-Semitism, from Henry Ford’s The International Jew to Reddit troll-conventions. Trump’s choice of language serves as a signal that he is one of them. Or at least, that’s what many commentators have alleged. The problem is that it’s hard to establish whether a piece of speech or writing is a dog whistle. Indeed, it’s not obvious what evidence could, in principle, settle a dispute over whether some expression is or isn’t one. They are, by their nature, sneaky things.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech in West Palm Beach, Florida_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-south-florida-fair-expo-center-west-palm-beach-florida))\ \ "We've seen this first hand in the Wikileaks documents, in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks, to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global interest powers, her special interest friends, and her donors."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 13, 2016
Islamic extremism
_Surface forms_: Islamic extremism; radical Islamic extremism; extremism
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim people as a whole are a threat\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ [see radical Islam]
Example context (in [_Speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia_](https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/trump-islamic-islamist https://theintercept.com/2017/05/22/white-house-blames-exhaustion-for-donald-trumps-islamic-terrorism-dog-whistle-in-saudi-arabia/ ))\ \ "There is still much work to be done. That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: May 21, 2017
Islamic extremists
_Surface forms_: Islamic extremists; Islamic extremist; radical Islamic extremists; radical Islamic extremist; extremist; extremists
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim people as a whole are a threat\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ [see radical Islam]
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220720085515/https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1482840727679873030))\ \ "Don’t worry guys our intelligence and federal law enforcement may be too busy to monitor foreign Islamic extremists, but rest assured if your grandmother took a selfie somewhere within 1500 miles of D.C. on J6 they’re watching her closely if she hasn’t been arrested already"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump Jr\ _Date_: January 16, 2022
Islamic terrorism
_Surface forms_: Islamic terrorism; radical Islamic terrorism; terrorism
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim people as a whole are a threat\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ [see radical Islam]
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech in New Hampshire_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220217141452/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/20/i-think-islam-hates-us-a-timeline-of-trumps-comments-about-islam-and-muslims/))\ \ "Hillary Clinton's catastrophic immigration plan will bring vastly more radical Islamic immigration into this country, threatening not only our society but our entire way of life. When it comes to radical Islamic terrorism, ignorance is not bliss. It's deadly — totally deadly"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: June 13, 2016
Islamic terrorists
_Surface forms_: Islamic terrorists; Islamic terrorist; radical Islamic terrorists; radical Islamic terrorist; terrorist; terrorists
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim people as a whole are a threat\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ [see radical Islam]
Example context (in [_Tweet responding to criticism of a speech_](https://web.archive.org/web/20200820230044/https://twitter.com/JerryFalwellJr/status/1108197637713465345))\ \ "#fakenewsalert I said “end those Muslims” referring only to the radical Islamic terrorists who had killed 14 in CA the day before in 2015. And you deleted the last part of my quote “before they walk in and kill us”. Please correct your tweet. I was only advocating self defense."\ \ _Speaker_: Jerry Falwell (Liberty University President)\ _Date_: March 19, 2019
Islamists
_Surface forms_: Islamist; Islamists; radical Islamist; radical Islamists
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim people as a whole are a threat\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ [see radical Islam]
Example context (in [_Interview with Steve Deace Show (Conservative Podcast by The Blaze)_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221127051122/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/gop-congressman-spy-on-us-mosques-to-stop-isis-recruitment))\ \ "The radical islamists have 1.3 or more billion muslims to work with. Now they aren't all supporters. Daniel (inaudible) says 10-15% of them, but that is a huge population to draw from. They are all over the world. They're certainly in the United States. They're recruiting fighters for ISIS right out of Minneapolis out of the Somali enclave. And that's going on in other parts of the country too…So they have a network that they flow in. And it isn't that all muslims are a supporter of ISIS but the network that flows through the mosques is certainly the communications centers. We ought to be looking at this dot to dot. And we ought to have people in those mosques watching to see what's going on."\ \ _Speaker_: Steve King (Iowa Representative)\ _Date_: September 12, 2014
Israel Lobby
_Surface forms_: Israel Lobby
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews control US politics\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/Jewish-lobby))\ \ Lobbying groups by definition use their money to support specific causes. Individual Jewish groups use money through contributions, including campaign contributions, to draw support for various missions and causes, as do tens of thousands of other American lobbies and interest groups. There is no one “Jewish lobby” that speaks for the Jewish community. While some people use “Jewish Lobby” and “Israel Lobby” interchangeably and have no antisemitic intentions when saying “Jewish Lobby,” the phrase serves as a dog whistle for those who believe Jews control politics (see control). When “Jewish Lobby” is purposefully invoked to describe Jewish control of Washington, then that is antisemitic.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221226220552/https://twitter.com/Baddiel/status/1458751241174061057))\ \ "Sometimes i think that the Israel lobby forgets the gypsies and gays that died in the camps in WW2 and it wasn't just about them. "\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 11, 2021
it's okay to be white
_Surface forms_: it's ok to be white; it's okay to be white; #itsoktobewhite; #itsokaytobewhite
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist slogan\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/It%27s_Okay_to_Be_White))\ \ It's Okay to Be White was a poster campaign spearheaded by 4chan's /pol/ and other far-right groups, such as The Daily Stormer, in November 2017. This campaign counters the context of the perceived "reverse racism" and society trying to make a privileged majority "guilty", and it consoles the privileged majority: "it's okay to be white." By use of this loaded language, the campaign attempted to force critics to either accept the posters' message (despite being pushed by far-right white supremacist groups) or to say that "it's not okay to be white" (an obviously absurd and bigoted statement). The campaign has expected the posters to be taken down so "normies" can realize how the media hate white people and therefore try to recruit them to the white supremacist cause.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221226221323/https://twitter.com/Y0L0Jo/status/1587561362267721728))\ \ "According to TV commercials, 98% of America is black and gay. 🤔 #ItsOkToBeWhite #WhitePride Cue the meltdowns… ❄️"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 1, 2022
job creators
_Surface forms_: job creator; job creators; job creation
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Wealthy people\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://thedemlabs.org/2022/02/28/dogwhistle-politics-culture-wars-republicans-use-to-get-elected/))\ \ Means people who own businesses that employ other people. For conservatives, this really means rich people. When 10% of the population controls 76% of the wealth, the last thing the Republicans and their rich donors need is even the slightest, burdensome tax increase.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech in Charlotte, North Carolina_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-discussion-womens-issues-charlotte-north-carolina))\ \ "I think raising taxes on small businesses would be a mistake. It would hurt our economy. I'm running against a fellow who's promised $2.2 trillion in new Federal spending so far, and we haven't even got to the stretch run yet. So they said, "How are you going to pay for it?" He said, "Oh, that's simple. We'll just tax the rich." You run up the top two brackets of the individual income taxes, you're taxing about a million small businesses here in America. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small businesses, and you're taxing the job creators."\ \ _Speaker_: George W. Bush\ _Date_: September 17, 2004
jogger
_Surface forms_: jogger; joggers
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black person\ _Type_: phonetic-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Jogger started being used as a synonym for 'nigger' following the shooting of an unarmed African American jogger, Ahmaud Arbery, on February 23, 2020, allegedly by two white men, Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael. 4chan attempted to appropriate the term and the action itself as a racist slur in May 2020 by referring to black people as "joggers" in an offensive manner.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221226224029/https://twitter.com/USARebel1776/status/1266969273181908993))\ \ "Many say the looting is just Joggers wanting free stuff. I think there's an explicit, revolutionary, anti-White nature. Essentially they're saying, "what's yours, White man, is now mine. Your rules? We won't follow." The looting is political. Just has nothing to do w/ FIoyd."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 31, 2020
Judas
_Surface forms_: Judas; 30 pieces of silver; thirty pieces of silver
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews are not to be trusted\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ In the Christian Bible, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silve. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’s 12 disciples, received 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus to the religious authorities. Although Jesus and all 12 disciples were Jews, the Western world—through art, literature, music, and tradition—chose to depict Judas as the Jew who sold out his Savior for money. Thus, the name Judas became synonymous with traitor, contributing to the persecution of Jewish communities for two millennia. This false and libelous narrative would feed into Hitler’s propaganda and the Holocaust.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220525210634/https://twitter.com/icecube/status/1283458390790828032))\ \ "Shame on the Hollywood Reporter who obviously gave my brother Kareem 30 pieces of silver to cut us down without even a phone call"\ \ _Speaker_: Ice Cube (American rapper)\ _Date_: July 15, 2020
Judeo-Christian
_Surface forms_: Judeo-Christian; Judeo-Christianity; Judeo-Christian values
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslims threaten Christian society\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://theconversation.com/why-judeo-christian-values-are-a-dog-whistle-myth-peddled-by-the-far-right-85922))\ \ It might seem neighbourly, even pluralistic, to include Judaism in a declaration of purported Western values. But in reality this isn’t how the term has functioned, either historically or more recently. Instead, the phrase is used to exclude rather than include. Despite implying that Jews are part of this resurrection of Judeo-Christian values, Trump in no way intends a campaign to Make Hanukkah Great Again. His “Judeo-Christian values” are about protecting Christmas, and about protecting Christians – at the exclusion of others. “Judeo-Christian” is now most often used to draw a line between imagined Christian values and a perceived (but false) threat of Muslim immigration. Time and again, when Farage and Trump use the term, what they really imply is an “us-versus-them” division between the West and Islam. This is not about the inclusion of Jews in the values of these nations, then, but about the xenophobic exclusion of an “other”. Invoked in anti-immigration rhetoric with the goal of excluding Muslims, this phrase is actually used to scaffold a false narrative about Christians being persecuted, threatened or besieged, which gives motivation for the protection of “Judeo-Christian values”. In fact, Christians are not persecuted in the countries where Farage and Trump make their homes.
Example context (in [_Remarks at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-family-research-councils-values-voter-summit))\ \ "We are stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values...You know, we're getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don't talk about anymore. They don't use the word "Christmas" because it's not politically correct. You go to department stores, and they'll say, "Happy New Year," and they'll say other things. And it will be red, they'll have it painted, but they don't say it. Well, guess what? We're saying "Merry Christmas" again."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 13, 2017
judicial activism
_Surface forms_: judicial activism; judicial activist; judicial activists; activist judge; activist judges
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Judges ruling in liberals' favor\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Any time judges make a ruling that the speaker, usually but not necessarily conservative, disapproves of. 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.
Example context (in [_Opinion articial for the National Review Online_](https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-we-must-not-submit-our-constitutional-freedoms-and-the-promise-of-our-nation-to-judicial-tyranny))\ \ "This week, we have twice seen Supreme Court Justices violating their judicial oaths. Yesterday, the Justices re-wrote Obamacare, yet again, in order to force this failed law on the American people. Today, the Court doubled down with a 5-4 opinion that undermines not just the definition of marriage, but the very foundations of our representative form of government. Both decisions were judicial activism, plain and simple. Both were lawless... The decisions that have deformed our constitutional order and have debased our culture are but symptoms of the disease of liberal judicial activism that has infected our judiciary. A remedy is needed that will restore health to the sick man in our constitutional system."\ \ _Speaker_: Ted Cruz (Texas senator)\ _Date_: June 26, 2015
Jwoke
_Surface forms_: Jwoke; JQ aware; J.Q. aware; JQ
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Antisemitic self-referential signal\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Jwoke refers to a person who is antisemitic, who is woke to various conspiracy theories about Jews and/or to the Jewish question. JQ Aware, derived from Jewish Question, is sometimes used as a synonym. The Jewish question (abbreviated JQ) was part of a long-running debate in Europe about the civil, legal, national and political status of Jews within Europe from the 18th through 20th centuries. It culminated in Nazi Germany with The Final Solution, resulting in the Holocaust. The alt-right has revived the term even though there are some Jews who consider themselves among the alt-right.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221227041712/https://twitter.com/Salient_Points/status/1125241747418898432))\ \ "It must be soul-destroying work. Playing whack-a-mole on disposable Jwoke accounts achieves nothing in the long run. Once the truth of the JQ is known, it cannot be unknown, so progress is only in one direction. The awakening is moving faster than ever now."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 5, 2019
Kalergi Plan
_Surface forms_: Kalergi Plan
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people are conspiring to rule the world\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The Kalergi Plan is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that was invented by neo-Nazi Austrian Gerd Honsik (1941–2018), and propagated in his 2005 book, Rassismus Legal. The plan alleges a conspiracy that centers around Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1899–1972), the founder of the Paneuropean Union. Coudenhove-Kalergi was an Austrian politician whose father was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and whose mother was Japanese. Coudenhove-Kalergi was initially antisemitic, like his father. After he began researching his book, Das Wesen des Antisemitismus, however, he concluded that antisemitism was primarily based on religious bigotry, and subsequently ceased to be an antisemite. In his 1925 book, Praktischer Idealismus, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, "Der Mensch der fernen Zukunft wird Mischling sein. Die heutigen Rassen unt Kasten werden der zunehmenden Überwindung von Raum, Zeit und Vorurteil zum Opfer fallen." which has been translated into English as: "The man of the future will be of mixed race. Today's races and classes will gradually disappear owing to the vanishing of space, time, and prejudice." Coudenhove-Kalergi's forecast was an optimistic view of racial-mixing that contrasted with Madison Grant's similar but pessimistic and racist view. The conspiracy theory itself alleges that Coudenhove-Kalergi wanted the envisioned mixed-race world to be ruled by Jewish elites, and that one of Coudenhove-Kalergi's goals was the destruction of Europe. This conspiracy theory overlaps with the white genocide and Great Replacement conspiracy theories among neo-Nazis.
Example context (in [_Livestream Video_](https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/jarrin-jackson-i-largely-agree-anti-miscegenation-and-jews-taking-over))\ \ "One thing I do agree with the Kalergi Plan is I think it's real. I think that there are people who think evilly who actually think that they want to get rid of white people. Why do I say that? Because I think it's well evidenced...:My whole point for this: Zionism, Jews taking over the world, the Rothschilds, the Kalergi Plan, the white replacement theology or white replacement theory. I largely agree that all of those things are happening."\ \ _Speaker_: Jarrin Jackson (Oklahoma State Senate Candidate)\ _Date_: September 27, 2021
Kek
_Surface forms_: Kek; Kekistan
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal meaning "lol" that became an alt-right 4chan meme\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The term "Kek" originates from World of Warcraft, where if someone from the Horde side typed "lol" in /say, Alliance players would instead see "kek". This is a further reference by Blizzard to the Korean language word for 'laugh' (or more literally, 'ha ha ha'), kekeke (ㅋㅋㅋ), commonly seen in Starcraft. Used the same way by 4chan, later leading to the discovery of an Egyptian deity by the same name who happened to be a frog, thus linking this to the Pepe meme. The superlative is "topkek" or "top kek," which is also reference to a Turkish snack food. Kekistan is a fictional ethnicity that lets alt-righters use a Nazi flag as a "meme". It replaces the Nazi symbol with "K"s, and the Iron Cross with 4chan's logo. Kekistan was popularized in part by Sargon of Akkad.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221226232516/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1607148387799011328))\ \ "Kek"\ \ _Speaker_: Elon Musk\ _Date_: December 25, 2022
Khazars
_Surface forms_: Khazar; Khazars
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf ))\ \ In the 6th century CE, the Khazars—an obscure warlike tribe in Turkistan [present day Kazakhstan]—fought for land that was ultimately overtaken by Southern Russia and Ukraine. Despite the decline in population and territorial defeat, the Khazars continued to be mentioned throughout history— especially as one of the first groups to adopt Judaism. By the 8th or 9th century, antisemitic conspiracy theories began forming around the Khazars’ reported conversion to Judaism. This spurred antisemitic beliefs that they were building a secret empire which sought widespread control through financial gains. Given that the Khazars moved into and settled in Eastern Europe, antisemites push the conspiracy that Ashkenzai Jews—Jews descending from Eastern Europe—are not “real Jews” and are working to infiltrate other nations on their quest for world domination (see “not the real Jews”). The Khazar trope is also used to undermine the Jewish connection to Israel, and therefore Israel’s right to exist, because it falsely says Jews originated from the northern Caucasus region and were part of the Turkic empire—and not the Land of Israel.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221227042549/https://twitter.com/RizzaIslam/status/1588661659760893953))\ \ "Jews Hebrews Israelites Ashkenazi 👀 Khazars 👀👀 You get “in trouble” for mentioning the last two. Well….. NOT ANYMORE! Time to study! Mask off! - Uncover every layer! Can you believe most of our leaders were called “Antisemitic” for pointing this out? 🙄 lol…. Pathetic"\ \ _Speaker_: Rizza Islam (social media influencer)\ _Date_: November 4, 2022
kosherist
_Surface forms_: kosherist; kosherists
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Kosherist is another term for Jews. It is used to try to evade keyword triggers. It is not strictly an evasion, as it has been used in ads for Kosher products
Example context (in [_4chan comment on /pol/_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221227045246/https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/138096558/))\ \ "This entire thread is a good goy joke. Azov and Right Sector are the Kosherist Kippa wearing joke "Nazis" who work for people named Nudelman and Kagan the world has ever seen. Russia will mop them up when the time is right."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 18, 2017
law and order
_Surface forms_: law and order
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black and Latino people are lawless and commit crimes\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/05/politicians-racial-dog-whistles/ ))\ \ [Everyday Feminism] “Law and order” is often used to police low-income communities, particularly Black and Latinx people. Politicians use the phrase to signal that people of color are inherently criminal, and that we defy laws for no good reason. It implies that extra measures, such as broken windows policing, which promotes harsh punishment strategies under the belief that tolerating minor infractions encourages more serious violent crimes, need to be implemented in order to uphold the law. Richard Nixon used the rhetoric of “law and order” in 1968 to appeal to white voters who were angry about integration. He claimed that he was a candidate for the “silent majority,” the other population of whites who weren’t protesting social injustices like Jim Crow and the Vietnam War. With the exception of Trump saying we need more “law and order,” which would directly impact Black and Latinx neighborhoods, the phrase isn’t used much anymore. However, the message behind it still resonates with conservatives and liberals alike. When groups like Black Lives Matter use civil disobedience, like when they shut down the 405 Freeway in Inglewood, CA last year, similar rhetoric to “law and order” was used to police their actions. Liberals and conservatives alike objected to BLM because they claimed that the protests were “disrupting people’s lives” and “promoting rioting and violence.” In that case, upholding the status quo and obeying the law was the most important thing, instead of recognizing that the laws are unjust and need to be fixed.
Example context (in [_1. Republican presidential nomination acceptance speech 2. Private comment on 1968 campaign ad 3. Presidential debate_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-miami http://web.archive.org/web/20201210181709/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/03/how-richard-nixon-captured-white-rage-laid-groundwork-donald-trump/ https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/full-transcript-first-2016-presidential-debate-228761 ))\ \ "And to those who say that law and order is the code word for racism, here is a reply: Our goal is justice – justice for every American. If we are to have respect for law in America, we must have laws that deserve respect. Just as we cannot have progress without order, we cannot have order without progress. [Richard Nixon, 8/8/1968, Republican presidential nomination acceptance speech] [My campaign ad] hits it right on the nose. It’s all about law and order and the damn N*gro-Puerto Rican groups out there. [Richard Nixon, 1968, private comment in response to campaign ad] Lester, we need law and order. We need law and order in the inner cities. Because the people that are most affected by what’s happening are African-American and Hispanic people. And it’s very unfair to them what our politicians are allowing to happen. [Donald Trump, 9/27/2016, presidential debate]"\ \ _Speaker_: Richard Nixon, Donald Trump\ _Date_: August 8, 1968; 1968; September 27, 2016
lesbian erasure
_Surface forms_: lesbian erasure; erasing lesbians
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are threatening cis lesbians\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A conspiracy theory invented by TERFs. It smears the trans-rights movement as a nefarious plot to systemically "erase" lesbians. Its proponents insist that granting legal recognition and protection to trans people will somehow force cis lesbians to date "men" (i.e., trans women) and thus nullify the existence of lesbians, or because lesbians are somehow being convinced to become trans men. This conspiracy has been propagated by mainstream newspapers in the UK.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220828022902/https://twitter.com/Martina/status/1563570179665448961))\ \ "The trans lobby literally coined the term Cotton Ceiling. Please educate yourself before making these really bad claims. This is lesbian erasure in broad daylight"\ \ _Speaker_: Martina Navratilova (tennis player) \ _Date_: August 27, 2022
lesbophobia
_Surface forms_: lesbophobia
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are threatening cis lesbians\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ While discrimination and fear of lesbians do exist, this term is more often used by TERFs as a dog whistle against male-to-female transgender people, and it is also often used to gatekeep trans women from women's spaces. As with other terms here, it has, of course, made it harder for non-transphobic lesbians to talk about legitimate discrimination against lesbians, and to describe how it differs from homophobia against gay men. Among non-TERFs the more inclusive, gender-neutral term homophobia is preferred in most cases when not referring to the intersection of misogyny and homophobia proper, whereas TERFs often use the term lesbophobia specifically to attack trans people and the broader LGBT community.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20211020162106/https://twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1450856299940519946 ))\ \ "I have accepted an invitation to take part in a cross-party panel at @ALLIANCELGB conference tomorrow & I have no intention of caving into those trying to bully me out of that decision whether for reasons of lesbophobia, homophobia or personal animosity"\ \ _Speaker_: Joanna Cherry (Scottish Member of Parliament)\ _Date_: October 20, 2021
Let's Go Brandon
_Surface forms_: Let's Go Brandon; LGB; #LGB
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Conservative signal that originally meant Fuck Joe Biden\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Let's Go Brandon is a meme that sounds vaguely like the phrase "Fuck Joe Biden". Its origins are traced to a post-race interview with NASCAR racer, Brandon Brown on October 2, 2021. Brandon was celebrating his win with an interview on NBC. During the interview, a crowd chanted out "Fuck Joe Biden" loud and clear. To feebly cover for this obscenity on live TV, the interviewer claimed, "You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's go, Brandon!'" Since the interview, the phrase "Let's Go Brandon" has been amplified by the alt-right as a way to curse Biden, but it has also been used by ostensibly mainstream right-wing figures.
Example context (in [_Speech on House of Representatives Floor_](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2021-10-21/pdf/CREC-2021-10-21.pdf))\ \ "Now, people are understandably frustrated. Actually, they are very angry, and they are not going to sit back and take it much longer. Instead of the bogus Build Back Better plan and reconciliation plan, you know what they want? They want the Democrats to help put America back where they found it and leave it the hell alone. Let’s go, Brandon. "\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Posey (Florida Representative)\ _Date_: October 21, 2021
LGB rights
_Surface forms_: LGB rights; LGB; Drop the T; #DropTheT
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual, but not trans, rights\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ The term "LGB" is used by mostly lesbian TERFs to deliberately exclude trans people from the LGBT community. Any organization calling itself "LGB" nowadays, such as the LGB Alliance, is usually a TERF group exclusively focused on the struggle against trans people.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/jo_bartosch/status/1541338659865198592))\ \ "Builder just asked “what do you write about?” I explained my main topic of the past 6 years has been the assault on women’s & LGB rights by trans activists. He immediately understood, because unlike most of those in universities & Parliament he’s neither an idiot nor coward."\ \ _Speaker_: Jo Bartosch (journalist)\ _Date_: June 27, 2022
lifelong bachelor
_Surface forms_: lifelong bachelor; single; never married; never-married; limp-wristed; has no children; confirmed bachelor
_Persona/In-Group_: homophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Gay person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ For homophobes, pointing out that the opposing political candidate is "single," "never married", "a lifelong bachelor," "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.
Example context (in [_Reader's comments sent to Chicago Tribune_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220928184726/https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/opinion/ct-sta-speak-out-st-0918-20220916-vlygh65murevfgsznsg7u7bgya-story.html))\ \ "So lifelong confirmed bachelor Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who doesn’t have a girlfriend, doesn’t have a daughter, has never been married and isn’t a medical doctor, somehow believes he is the one to dictate the terms of reproductive health care to millions of American women. I find it odd that a man who has shown so little interest in the fairer sex would be so interested in dictating what they can do with their bodies."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 16, 2022
lizard emoji
_Surface forms_: 🦎; lizard emoji; salamander emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Self-referential signal for detransitioners that are now anti-trans\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ The salamander has become a "positive symbol" for a subset of the detrans community due to its ability to regenerate lost limbs and organs. These detransitioners are mostly cis women who identified as trans men for a time and now regret receiving HRT, top surgery, or hysterectomies. They have stated that, although certain aspects of medical transition cannot be reversed, they wish to "feel emotionally and psychologically complete." Not all detransitioners are TERFs. However, the lizard emoji is often seen as a TERF dogwhistle. Psychologist and author Devon Price has cautioned that one should be "very skeptical and on alert" if they see someone with a "lizard in their bio" on social media commenting on "gender, sexuality, 'protecting children,' feminism, or trans issues." Price has written about his own brief experience with detransition. Ky Schevers, another prominent retransitioner and ex-TERF, has linked the lizard emoji's symbolism to TERF erasure of tran men: "Autotomy is when some animals, like lizards & sea cucumbers, shed a body part in order to escape from a predator & then later regrow the lost part. The idea was that detrans women had shed their femaleness to try to escape the dangers of patriarchy but were now regrowing it." TERFs frequently argue that cis women transition in an attempt to escape misogyny or lesbophobia.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221126170331/https://twitter.com/sometherapist/status/1584374902148452352))\ \ "#detransitioners! 🦎 Have you ever thought about filing a formal complaint with the licensing board of the therapist who provided your “gender-affirming care,” but felt too daunted to complete the process? Fear not. I’ve simplified it for you."\ \ _Speaker_: Stephanie Winn (writer and podcast host)\ _Date_: October 23, 2022
loxism
_Surface forms_: loxism; loxist; loxists
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews hate non-Jews\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Loxism is the portmaneau of lox + racism, that for white supremacists describes the alleged hatred of non-Jewish whites by Jews.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220901093238/https://twitter.com/risenrunout/status/1565270773559853056))\ \ "Oh look, the genocidal loxists are denying our existence and culture again whilst gaslighting us that we're the ones who are hateful for not going quietly to our graves"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 1, 2022
MAGA
_Surface forms_: MAGA; #MAGA; Make America Great Again
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Make America White Again\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/27/the-deadly-consequences-of-dog-whistle-politics/))\ \ MAGA, of course, stands for “Make America Great Again,” the Trump slogan that carried the former real estate magnate and self-declared nationalist to the White House on a torrent of innuendo about the sorts of minority people—Mexican “rapists,” migrants from “shithole” countries, a previous president he kept suggesting was not really American but African—who didn’t fit his vision of the future. Which, of course, was really just a twisted vision of a racist past, a vision shaped by vicious dog whistles that spoke so clearly to white supremacists and neo-Nazis that some of them, such as David Duke, hailed Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election as a long-awaited legitimization of their views.
Example context (in [_Presidential Debate_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-the-university-nevada-las-vegas))\ \ "But when I started this campaign, I started it very strongly. It's called "Make America Great Again." We're going to make America great. We have a depleted military. It has to be helped, has to be fixed. We have the greatest people on Earth in our military. We don't take care of our veterans. We take care of illegal immigrants, people that come into the country illegally, better than we take care of our vets. That can't happen. Our policemen and women are disrespected. We need law and order, but we need justice, too. Our inner cities are a disaster. You get shot walking to the store. They have no education. They have no jobs...We are going to make America strong again, and we are going to make America great again, and it has to start now."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 19, 2016
magapede
_Surface forms_: magapede; magapedes
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trump supporters who are not antisemitic or racist enough\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Magapede was used primarily on boards like 8chan /pol/. It refers to Trump supporters who do not subscribe to antisemitic or racist views. It is similar to cuckservative.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221227062650/https://twitter.com/ScottMGreer/status/1135319956525080579))\ \ "Extremely MAGApede voice: “If Harvey Milk were alive today, he’d be a Trump supporter!”"\ \ _Speaker_: Scott Greer (writer)\ _Date_: June 2, 2019
majority-minority
_Surface forms_: majority-minority; majority minority
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White hegemony in America is threatened\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jefferson-street/articles/2017-08-17/be-aware-of-these-extreme-right-dog-whistles-after-charlottesville))\ \ This is certainly less veiled than many of the extreme right's verbiage, as it speaks to the demographic shift that America is projected to see in the next century, as Caucasian populations decline in proportion. But it's the extent that this is a threat to be actively fought and defended against that makes it a dog whistle and call to action.
Example context (in [_Opinion article for the New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/opinion/democrats-midterms-immigration-nation.html))\ \ "After 30 years of multiculturalism, the bonds of racial solidarity trump the bonds of national solidarity. Democrats have a very strong story to tell about what we owe the victims of racism and oppression. They do not have a strong story to tell about what we owe to other Americans, how we define our national borders and what binds us as Americans. Here’s the central challenge of our age: Over the next few decades, America will become a majority-minority country. It is hard to think of other major nations, down through history, that have managed such a transition and still held together."\ \ _Speaker_: David Brooks (Opinion Columnist)\ _Date_: November 5, 2018
male violence
_Surface forms_: male violence
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans women are violent\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A transphobic dog whistle that is used to include trans women as part of crimes that male criminals committed.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221229234415/https://twitter.com/JohannLamont/status/1606097050252165120))\ \ "My advice. Don’t justify the unjustifiable. Just say youmade a choice. Picked a side. Decided who was expendable and who was collateral damage. But never tell a survivor of male violence that you feel their pain. Just tell them other things mattered more. And live with your pick."\ \ _Speaker_: Johann Lamont (former Scottish Member of Parliament)\ _Date_: December 22, 2022
male-friendly content
_Surface forms_: male-friendly content; male-friendly
_Persona/In-Group_: misogynistic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Rape jokes and threats about domestic violence, other content that features abuse of women\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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.
Example context (in [_Reddit post on r/MensRights_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220814021656/https://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/wnihmo/comment/ik6xj3e/))\ \ "They also have some male-friendly shows, but there do seem to be quite a few shows with an anti-male theme. I think they are just trying to make money at the end of the day, so maybe the best response is to just dislike and not watch the bad ones."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 13, 2022
mass immigration
_Surface forms_: mass immigration; mass migration
_Persona/In-Group_: xenophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Non-white immigration\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ "Mass immigration" is a dysphemism for any immigration to "white" countries from "nonwhite" countries (except when they're the honorary Aryans of East Asia). Mass immigration is viewed by the alt-right as a precursor to one world government, white genocide and other nasty things. It is never discussed when it is white people taking over "nonwhite" places in history.
Example context (in [_Speech at National Conservatism Conference_](https://americanmind.org/features/florida-versus-davos/))\ \ "And here’s the thing: when you look at what’s happened at the border, we focus on the criminal aliens, drugs, all that’s very important. But just the sheer number of people overwhelms communities. And this idea of mass immigration, whether it’s illegal immigration or whether it’s just mass immigration through the legal process, like the diversity lottery or chain migration, is not conducive to assimilating people into American society."\ \ _Speaker_: Ron DeSantis (Florida Governor)\ _Date_: September 11, 2022
Medieval European imagery
_Surface forms_: Medieval (European) imagery, insignia, symbols
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: I am a white supremacist\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ Little (2018) shows how by using letters from the medieval alphabet as symbols in uniforms and flags, white supremacists emphasize that Europe is the "ancestral homeland" of white people like them, and no one else.
Example context (in [_Twitter Profile Bio of Henrik Palmgren_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221207215041/https://twitter.com/Henrik_Palmgren))\ \ "Henrik Palmgren 🇸🇪 🐗 ᛟ Konung @redicetv ᛟ Rus wife, 2 Varangian sons & 1 Valkyrie ᛯ http://t.me/redicetv ⨁ http://odysee.com/@redicetv ⨁ http://bitchute.com/redicetv ⨁ http://redice.eth.xyz ⨁ http://redicemembers.com [Author note: ᛟ is a Norse Runic alphabet letter, ⨁ is a Celtic Cross]"\ \ _Speaker_: Henrik Palmgren (head of white supremacist media company Red Ice)\ _Date_: December 7, 2022
merit-based immigration policy
_Surface forms_: merit-based immigration; merit-based immigration policy; skills-based immigration; skills-based immigration policy; points-based immigration; points-based immigration policy
_Persona/In-Group_: xenophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: stop non-white immigration\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/the-top-10-racist-dog-whistles-hidden-in-trumps-state-o-1822600239))\ \ We looked in the “Reference and Appendix to Caucasian Idioms, Sayings and Translations” (RACIST) and found that “merit-based” immigration policy translates to “only admitting white people,” despite the fact that Africans are the most educated group of immigrants in the U.S. and the fact that Donald Trump’s grandfather wasn’t educated, spoke little English and used “chain migration” to enter the country.
Example context (in [_Panel Discussion on Fox News_](https://www.salon.com/2018/07/31/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-trump-wants-the-best-immigrants-not-some-guys-uncle-from-zimbabwe/ ))\ \ "He wants merit-based. That would cut legal immigration by bringing in the best and the brightest. So we don't bring in some guy's uncle from Zimbabwe."\ \ _Speaker_: Jesse Watters (co-host of The Five on Fox News)\ _Date_: July 30, 2018
middle class
_Surface forms_: middle class; middle-class Americans; middle class Americans
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White middle class\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ Coded language can also be used for white people, in particular to signal support for white supremacy. One such example is the phrase "middle class," which is often deployed by conservative politicians to refer not just to members of the middle class, but to white members of the middle class in particular. "'Middle class' stands as a signifier for whites," Haney-López argued. "It stands in opposition to the word 'poor,' which over the last 40 or 50 years has come to be associated with people of color." "Middle class" also stands in contrast to "inner city" and "urban," which were deployed after white flight out of the cities and into the suburbs during the 1950s and '60s. "If you had to live near, work with, or send your children to school with blacks, you weren't actually middle class," Haney-López said. "You needed to leave the city and move out to the suburbs. That was an economic marker, but it was also a racial marker of your middle-class status, because you were physically distant from African Americans." It is a classic example of coded language. There are of course many, many middle-class black Americans. But because of how the term has been used over time, it's attained a different, pernicious meaning — one that politicians and media have subtly embraced to play up likeness to and contrast from people of certain demographics.
Example context (in [_Announcement of "Working Tour" on Hawley's website_](http://web.archive.org/web/20180914060327/https://joshhawley.com/working-tour/))\ \ "The survival of the middle class is the defining struggle of our time. While the millionaires of Washington, Wall Street, and Hollywood thrive, hardworking Americans face stagnant wages, suffocating debt, and rising health care and education costs. As big banks, big pharma, and big government collude to ship jobs overseas, sabotage American farmers, and open up the border, middle-class Americans are being left behind."\ \ _Speaker_: Josh Hawley (Missouri Senator)\ _Date_: September 14, 2018
milk emoji
_Surface forms_: 🥛; milk emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Milk, emojified as 🥛, is another dogwhistle similar to 👌. This dogwhistle originated from a 4chan thread centering around a Nature article about a genetic mutation in Europe that caused lactase production and eliminated lactose intolerance in adulthood. Ironically, a similar mutation arose independently in Africa. Whether as a form of dimwittery or trolling, some in the alt-right have also in engaged in milk chugging.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/torrellasscott/status/939133508408217600))\ \ "GOOD MORNING CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS: a VERY Happy DEUS VULT Friday to ALL of CHRISTENDOM! Ho Ho Ho. Saint Nick Strikes AGAIN! Stop whatever piddling little non-sense you're currently doing, tab over to Google, WHAT pray tell, do you see? WHAT!?! Oh Joy! A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE🎄🥛🎁❤️"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 8, 2017
mixed sex
_Surface forms_: mixed sex; mixed-sex
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Environment that accommodates both trans and cis women\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ "Mixed sex" can have at least two different meanings: Any environment that accommodates both trans and cis women, since TERFs see trans women as men. A term used in place of "unisex" or "gender neutral" when referring to bathrooms anyone can use. TERFs think that this makes it sound worse, and will make others realize that cis women should only ever have to share facilities with other cis women, no one else.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221230004138/https://twitter.com/HJoyceGender/status/1548232731896598530))\ \ "If you visit a restaurant, bar etc and you hated the gender neutral or ‘trans inclusive’ toilets - ie ‘mixed sex’ - write a review on TripAdvisor saying so. If the mixed-sex loos put you off visiting again, add that too. Only way to get some people to listen is a negative review"\ \ _Speaker_: Helen Joyce (Author)\ _Date_: July 16, 2022
multiculturalism
_Surface forms_: multiculturalism; multicultural; multiCULTi; multi-kulti
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Too many Muslims\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.nccm.ca/goodbye-bernier-canadians-have-rejected-your-politics-of-fear/))\ \ The reality is that Mr. Bernier and his party engaged in a campaign of misinformation, racism and dog-whistle politics aimed at Islamophobes. Mr. Bernier said he would fight against “extreme multiculturalism.” He promised to end the “glorification of diversity.” He promised to fight any motion in Parliament that contained the word “Islamophobia.” He was slated to show up at a rally with the neo-Nazi group Soldiers of Odin and far-right La Meute.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/secpompeo/status/1351537398564286466))\ \ "Woke-ism, multiculturalism, all the -isms — they're not who America is. They distort our glorious founding and what this country is all about. Our enemies stoke these divisions because they know they make us weaker."\ \ _Speaker_: Mike Pompeo (Former U.S. Secretary of State)\ _Date_: January 19, 2021
my sex is not a costume
_Surface forms_: my sex is not a costume; #WomanNotACostume; #MySexIsNotACostume; woman not a costume
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic slogan referring to claim that trans women are just dressing up as women\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A phrase claiming that trans women are just "dressing up" as women and it's a "costume" they can take off whenever convenient. Taken from a campaign that began as an anti-racism initiative in colleges, asking students not to wear Halloween costumes based on ethnic stereotypes: "We're a culture, not a costume." It later used the slogan "My identity is not a costume" and expanded to include other marginalised groups, with one poster showing a trans woman objecting to a crude costume based on Caitlyn Jenner. At this point the slogan and concept were hijacked by TERFs.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221230010646/https://twitter.com/1956introvert/status/1366536481804849152))\ \ "#IREJECTCIS I am a woman. My sex is not a costume."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 1, 2021
neoliberal
_Surface forms_: neoliberalism; neoliberal; neoliberals; neolib; neolibs
_Persona/In-Group_: liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Non-leftist liberals\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/how-neoliberalism-became-the-lefts-favorite-insult.html))\ \ And the term neoliberal doesn’t mean a faction of liberals. It now refers to liberals generally, and it is applied by their left-wing critics. The word is now ubiquitous, popping up in almost any socialist polemic against the Democratic Party or the center-left. Obama’s presidency? It was “the last gasp of neoliberalism.” Why did Hillary Clinton lose? It was her neoliberalism. Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz? Neoliberals both. The ubiquitous epithet is intended to separate its target — liberals — from the values they claim to espouse. By relabeling self-identified liberals as “neoliberals,” their critics on the left accuse them of betraying the historic liberal cause. Its basic claim is that, from the New Deal through the Great Society, the Democratic Party espoused a set of values defined by, or at the very least consistent with, social democracy or socialism. Then, starting in the 1970s, a coterie of neoliberal elites hijacked the party and redirected its course toward a brand of social liberalism targeted to elites and hostile to the interests of the poor and the working class. The Democratic Party has evolved over the last half-century, as any party does over a long period of time. But the basic ideological cast of its economic policy has not changed dramatically since the New Deal. American liberals have always had some room for markets in their program. Democrats, accordingly, have never been a left-wing, labor-dominated socialist party. (Union membership peaked in 1955, two decades before the party’s supposed neoliberal turn, and has declined steadily since.) They have mediated between business and labor, supporting expanded state power episodically rather than dogmatically. The widespread notion that “neoliberals” have captured the modern Democratic party and broken from its historic mission plays upon nostalgia for a bygone era, when the real thing was messier and more compromised than the sanitized historical memory. The sudden ubiquity of the term in American politics — at least among left-wing elites — owes itself to two new developments. First, the Bernie Sanders campaign has inspired a new movement to remake the Democratic Party as a social-democratic labor party. Left-wing activists need a label for their opponents. Second, the widely publicized influence of neoconservatives within the Bush administration changed the connotation of “neo.” Whereas the prefix had once softened the term it modified — the neoconservatives were once seen as the intellectually evolved wing of the right, in contrast to the Buchananite knuckle-draggers — by the end of Bush’s term, it became an intensifier. A neoconservative was a conservative, but an even scarier one. And so the term neoliberal frames the political debate in a way that perfectly suits the messaging needs of left-wing critics of liberalism. The uselessness of “neoliberalism” as an analytic tool is the very thing that makes it useful as a factional messaging device for the left. The “neoliberalism” rubric implicates the Democratic Party in the rightward drift of American politics that has in reality been caused by the Republican Party’s growing radicalism. It yokes the two parties together into a capitalist Establishment, against which socialism offers the only clear alternative. Obscuring the large gulf between Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton, Paul Ryan and Barack Obama, is a feature of the term.
Example context (in [_Interview with Jacobin magazine_](https://jacobin.com/2020/12/cornel-west-interview-bernie-black-lives-matter ))\ \ "You see the rot at the core of the system’s embracing of the neofascist wing of the ruling class, which is Donald Trump and company. And the neoliberal wing of the ruling class, which is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The reason some of us argue against Trump, in the form of a vote for a milquetoast, mediocre, centrist Biden — who’s head of a rotten Democratic establishment — is because we’re trying to stop the American march toward fascism. So that was part of the anti-fascist coalition. "\ \ _Speaker_: Cornel West (Professor)\ _Date_: December 3, 2020
New World Order
_Surface forms_: New World Order; NWO
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ The conspiracy of a small group of powerful individuals working in secret to establish all-powerful control. The New World Order conspiracy theory becomes antisemitic when it’s followed by a reference to a Jewish business leader or political official with a secret agenda who’s seeking global control. A widely-used conspiracy theory made popular in the 20th century, the term centers on a cabal of world leaders using the global stage to create an almighty, totalitarian regime that strips people of their individual liberties and consolidates power at the very top (see cabal). The conspiracy theory behind the New World Order involving Jewish leaders is based on the idea that Jews have formed a power structure in which they control every aspect of humankind—the economy, media, and political landscape (see control).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1552388784767045633 ))\ \ "This is the future they want for us. This is the “new world order” in it’s pure form. We cannot allow this kind of stuff to become reality."\ \ _Speaker_: Lauren Boebert (Colorado Representative)\ _Date_: July 27, 2022
New York elite
_Surface forms_: New York elite; New York elites; Manhattan elite; Manhattan elites
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08821127.2017.1344059))\ \ Ideas about the “Eastern Establishment,” “East Coast liberals,” and “New York elites”—terms widely used by conservatives of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly when they criticized the allegedly liberal news media— were in part planted by the anti-Semitic far right, for whom such terms meant one thing: powerful Jews, including the Jews who they believed controlled the broadcast and print news media. Such code words were used intentionally by anti-Semites and unintentionally by non-anti-Semites, who had absorbed ideas and rhetoric about East Coast liberals that originated from anti-Semitic beliefs but over time had lost explicit anti-Semitic connotations... ...Newspapers and writers that navigated the anti-Semitic hazy borderlines in the 1970s employed code words such as “invisible government,” “international finance,” and “international cabal” to allude to a communist world conspiracy, but they usually avoided making explicit references to Jews…Such publications and columnists in the anti-Semitic hazy borderlines also employed color-blind language and anti-Semitic code words when they criticized the news media. Terms such as the “Eastern Establishment,” “New York elites,” and “East Coast liberals” were used to describe the allegedly biased news media by both explicit anti-Semites and publications and columnists that existed in the hazy borderlines.
Example context (in [_Speech at 2020 Republican National Convention_](https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/24/politics/tim-scott-rnc-speech/index.html))\ \ "And now, Joe Biden wants to come for your pocketbooks…. Unless you’re a blue state millionaire. I’m serious – that’s one of their solutions for the pandemic. They want more money you’re your pocket…going to help Manhattan elites and Hollywood moguls get a tax break."\ \ _Speaker_: Tim Scott (South Carolina Senator)\ _Date_: August 24, 2020
New York intellectuals
_Surface forms_: New York intellectual; New York intellectuals
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word))\ \ 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 the "controlled" media (without specifying who controls it, but anti-Semites know "who" that means); "international (often central) bankers" (without specifying Jewish international or central bankers, but anti-Semites know who); etc. Similarly, there is the originally Stalinist denunciation of "cosmopolitanism" or "rootless cosmopolitan", and more general references to "citizens of nowhere", "international elites", etc…Other seemingly-innocent terms include "New York intellectual" and variations. Other antisemitic dog whistles in German language sources include bemoaning the huge influence of ("certain people" 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 or an "Israel Lobby" that "stifles debate" or "controls the media".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/G_S_Bhogal/status/1051633041985167360))\ \ "If the left wants to know why it's losing influence over great swathes of America, it should imagine a white Rust Belt laborer who just lost his job to a machine being told to check his privilege by a champagne-guzzling New York intellectual who gets paid to express his opinions."\ \ _Speaker_: Gurwinder Bhogal (writer)\ _Date_: October 14, 2018
New York values
_Surface forms_: New York values
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewishness\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.jta.org/2016/04/08/politics/geraldo-raps-cruz-for-anti-semitic-comment-on-new-york-values))\ \ Several commentators, including former talk-show host Geraldo Rivera, are blasting Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s remarks earlier this year about “New York values” as anti-Semitic. Rivera, who is Jewish, said Thursday night on “The O’Reilly Factor” that Cruz’s use of the term “New York values” has “stinking anti-Semitic implications.”Asked about the remarks Friday morning on “Fox & Friends,” Rivera said, “In terms of this Ted Cruz situation and this ‘New York values’ situation, when you say ‘New York, money, and media,’ what do you need really before you get to the caricature — the dog-whistle — the code-word, of what this man is trying to say?” “What do you need? A cartoon of someone with a big nose from another era?” he asked, according to Salon. “This was designed to bring to the heartland the negative impression of greedy New Yorkers trying to take money out of people’s pockets.” CNN legal analyst and New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin also mentioned the anti-Semitic overtones of the phrase in an appearance on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. “He said New York values are about money and they’re about the media. That’s an anti-Semitic trope from a hundred years. It’s been around for a very long time,” Toobin said, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Money and media is Jews. I mean this is just an old-fashioned, anti-Semitic stereotype, derogatory term and everybody understands it.”
Example context (in [_Republican presidential debate_](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/us/politics/transcript-of-republican-presidential-debate.html))\ \ "You know, I think most people know exactly what New York values are...everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal or pro-abortion or pro- gay-marriage, focus around money and the media...you know, the concept of New York values is not that complicated to figure out."\ \ _Speaker_: Ted Cruz (Texas senator)\ _Date_: January 15, 2016
nibba
_Surface forms_: nibba; nibbas; ni🅱️🅱️a; ni🅱️🅱️as
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: N-word\ _Type_: phonetic-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Nibba is a euphemism for "nigga", which in turn is a euphemism for "nigger" because even "nigga" will get you in trouble on some social media. Some Nazis will even call each other nibba
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/BasedSchizoPill/status/1513886653265453083))\ \ "This isnt another "dindu nuffin bang bang" situation, if the media is reporting an explosive device was found, tell me the last time you heard a story where a hood nibba attempted to blow something up lmao"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: April 12, 2022
non-affirming therapist
_Surface forms_: non-affirming therapist; non-affirming therapists; non-affirming therapy
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: conversion therapy practitioner\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A code name for a conversion therapy practitioner, who reject the scientific consensus on gender-affirming therapy and make it seem bad. Often, they are "digging" for underlying issues, despite absolutely no evidence that there are issues underlying gender dysphoria.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221230235901/https://twitter.com/ImWatson91/status/1566810708335001602))\ \ "A fundamental change is needed in how we treat gender dysphoria, yes. But another equally important change is the need for more non-ideologically captured, non-affirming therapists and doctors to take on the care of those with regret. Because it is never *just* regret."\ \ _Speaker_: Sinéad Watson (Advisor to Genspect and Gender Dysphoria Alliance)\ _Date_: September 5, 2022
nose check
_Surface forms_: nose check
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: The person being referred to is Jewish\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The term "Nose check" is a way of indicating the commenter suspects (or knows) that an objectionable figure is Jewish, based on the stereotype that Jewish people have large noses.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221231001446/https://twitter.com/bo19108231/status/1605651066711904259))\ \ "Who is running Ukraine?? 👃👃👃 nose check aisle 5"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 21, 2022
noticer
_Surface forms_: noticer; noticers; #TheNoticing
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Notices an international Jewish conspiracy\ _Type_: persona signal (in-group label)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A noticer is an antisemite who "notices" supposed "coincidences" of an imagined international Jewish conspiracy. See also triple parentheses. The "noticer" image shows a person with what is supposed to be a laserlike glare, usually blueish-white, or sometimes red. The basic "noticer" image uses the bust of Roman senator Cicero.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221231003140/https://twitter.com/cynthiamckinney/status/1597481227686391809))\ \ "GREAT video about #TheNoticing featuring Ye, Chappelle, Oprah, Balenciaga, and others. [Link to video titled Ye Chappelle & The Handlers: Its all connected]"\ \ _Speaker_: Cynthia McKinney (Former Georgia Representative)\ _Date_: November 29, 2022
NPC
_Surface forms_: NPC; Wojak; NPCs; Wojaks
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Liberal person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A term used in gaming, meaning "non-player character," the alt-right attempted to appropriate it to dehumanize their opponents in October 2018, supposedly as a way to mock the abbreviation "PC" (as in "Person of Color" or "politically correct"). It is used in a similar manner to "SJW", the implication being that like NPCs in role-playing games or video games, left-wingers are scripted and brainwashed, regurgitate the same old talking points on a loop, and lack the ability to think critically. The meme culminated in a flood of spam accounts and bots on Twitter, each one having a username like "NPC93457234" (always 8 digits) and the same grey avatar or the Wojak avatar, posting typical straw men arguments of the left. The Wojak avatar originated in 2018 on 4chan in an attempt to dehumanize SJWs. This eventually morphed into said accounts tweeting out a message to go vote in the midterm elections on November 7th 2018 and not the day before, when the election actually was held. Twitter eventually banned approximately 1,500 accounts in response to this disinformation campaign in late October 2018.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221230234520/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1608939190548598784))\ \ "If you don’t think there’s at least a tiny chance you’re an NPC … you’re an NPC"\ \ _Speaker_: Elon Musk\ _Date_: December 30, 2022
octopus
_Surface forms_: octopus
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://antisemitism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Antisemitic-imagery-May-2020.pdf))\ \ The Octopus is a common antisemitic image found in anti-Jewish images and cartoons, representing the antisemitic canard of Jewish control. In 1903, the antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, alleged, among many other falsities, that Jewish leaders were conspiring to control the world, including global politics, the world economy, and the media. The image of an octopus, with its tentacles wrapped around the world, or penetrating the globe, is an antisemitic representation of this canard.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20181122143627/https://twitter.com/BreitbartNews/status/803380016688009220))\ \ "Like an octopus. [Commend added to shared link for article headlined "Flashback: George Soros Financed Hillary Clinton's Recount Lawyer Marc Elias"] "\ \ _Speaker_: Breitbart News\ _Date_: November 28, 2016
OK sign emoji
_Surface forms_: 👌; OK sign; OK sign emoji; okay sign; okay sign emoji; okay emoji symbol
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The OK Hand Sign, emojified as 👌, is a dogwhistle that alt-righters use to show that they are alt-right without explicitly stating it, echoing both Trump's and Pepe's usage of the sign. The alt-right use originated as bait for a /pol/ "prank" or trolling attempt, but as the media failed to fall into the trap, its usage rapidly shed whatever irony it had. As of January 2018, Snopes has listed the symbol as ambiguous as to whether it is an alt-right symbol or alt-right trolling. The sign is also used relatively innocuously in the "Circle Game". What makes it so devious is that it can be very difficult to know if someone is using it as a dogwhistle or as a harmless hand sign.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/EuropeanRevolt/status/1557460466762297344))\ \ "Non-Whites in America are all choosing to be "minorities." Makes ya think. . . 🤷‍♂️👌"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 10, 2022
open borders for Israel
_Surface forms_: open borders for Israel; #OpenBordersForIsrael
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews are pushing for immigration to ruin other countries except for Israel\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ "Open borders for Israel" is a a seemingly innocuous phrase, like "It's Okay to Be White", but in reality it is based on a conspiracy that Jews are pushing for immigration in western countries but not to Israel.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221231005303/https://twitter.com/SerenaJB3/status/1551892027079540736))\ \ "White people don't dominate Hollywood, it's quite another ethnic group who hate White people. #OpenBordersForIsrael"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: July 26, 2022
our guy
_Surface forms_: our guy; /our guy/
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Someone who holds alt-right or "red-pilled" political beliefs, often referring to Trump\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Our guy, or /our guy/, is someone who represents the core beliefs and values of a community. The term originated on 4chan. On 4chan's /pol/ board, and in alt-right usage, someone is "our guy" if they are thought to hold alt-right or "red-pilled" political beliefs (either openly or in secret).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20201105011101/https://twitter.com/readmyramblings/status/1324157132716081153))\ \ "I'm with you 100%. The ONLY good thing I see to come out of this, is that this is the biggest red-pill to normie MAGAS we could ever administer, this is a nuclear blast. We no longer have "our guy" in there, and the fraud is naked before us all."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 4, 2020
out of wedlock
_Surface forms_: out of wedlock
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black women are irresponsible and their children are less valuable to society\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ It would be unthinkable for journalists today to use the terms “illegitimate” or “bastard” to refer to a child born to unmarried parents, yet “out of wedlock” is no different. It’s an antiquated, sexist term that suggests that children born to unmarried parents are less valuable and less viable. “Out of wedlock” is often used to cast judgment on single mothers and is a dog-whistle that elicits racist “welfare queen” stereotypes—it is rarely applied to people of wealth and privilege, even when all other factors are the same.
Example context (in [_Speech on the Senate floor_](https://www.congress.gov/bound-congressional-record/1993/11/18/139/senate-section/article/30081-30398))\ \ "Unless we do something about that cadre of young people - tens of thousands of them - born out of wedlock, without parents, without supervision, without any structure, without any conscience developing because they literally (I yield myself three more minutes) because they literally have not been socialized. They literally have not had an opportunity. We should focus on them now. Not out of a liberal instinct for love, brother, and humanity - although I think that's a good instinct - but for simple, pragmatic reasons. If we don't, they will, or a portion of them will, become the predators fifteen years from now - and Madam President, we have predators on our streets, that society has, in fact, in part because of its neglect, created"\ \ _Speaker_: Joe Biden\ _Date_: November 18, 1993
overpopulation
_Surface forms_: overpopulation; overpopulating our country; overpopulating our planet; overpopulating the planet
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: There are too many non-white people in the world\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2022/0526/How-climate-change-doomerism-fuels-violent-extremism))\ \ Over the past few years, mainstream environmentalists and climate activists have watched with alarm as a new brand of right-wing eco-consciousness has started to gain traction in the United States and western Europe. On its extreme edge, proponents have explicitly embraced the label of “eco-fascism.” The alleged perpetrator of this month’s mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, claimed this identity, as did those in the 2019 El Paso, Texas, and Christchurch, New Zealand, massacres. Each blamed migrants, and people of color in general, for denigrating nature, and claimed that killing to lower population numbers was helpful for the environment – a clear throwback, scholars say, to Nazi rhetoric. In 1968, a bestselling book by Stanford professor Paul Ehrlich, “The Population Bomb,” predicted that a growing number of humans would lead to everything from global famine to world war. It helped usher in years of environmental ideology focused on the alleged problem of “too many people.” But as Dr. Hartmann and other scholars have pointed out, that “too many” was rarely conceptualized as white Anglo-Saxons. Indeed, the whole concept of overpopulation had roots in the early 20th-century eugenics movement, which advocated building a “superior” human race through selective breeding – an approach that was deeply racist. In recent years, most mainstream environmental organizations have backed away from, and even apologized for, their focus on overpopulation during the ’60s and ’70s. But the rhetoric still comes up regularly in conversations about climate, says Jacquelyn Gill, a paleoecologist at the University of Maine. This is despite clear research that shows fossil fuel use in wealthier, whiter countries has had a far greater climate impact than the number of people in any high-birthrate nation. “It’s really hard to get people to accept that consumption is the problem, not how many people there are,” Dr. Gill says. “And that when we talk about overpopulation, there’s a dog whistle there that a lot of people don’t even realize that they’re blowing.”
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/speech-facing-down-the-threats-the-21st-century ))\ \ "We know that poverty and overpopulation affect us all. These threats are insidious. They may take decades to develop. And they respect no borders. Problems that span time and continents can only be solved through coordinated and cooperative global efforts. From the deserts of Mesopotamia to the jungles of Central America, civilizations of the past, great and small, have been overcome despite the invincibility of their armies. Famine has wiped out entire peoples. Disease has crippled whole nations. Overpopulation has sunk full continents. "\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Richardson (Former New Mexico governor and 2008 presidential candidate)\ _Date_: October 18, 2007
oy vey
_Surface forms_: oy vey
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Antisemitic signal that mocks Jewish people and language\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ "Oy vey" is a Yiddish expression of dismay. The alt-right is fond of ironically using "oy vey", because it makes them feel edgy. "Oy vey" is seen in "Oy vey, the goyim know, shut it down." (implying that Jews are part of a worldwide shadowy conspiracy) or "Oy vey, remember the 6 trillion." (implying that the Holocaust was faked to guilt-trip people into supporting some "Jewish agenda"). Oy vey! is a common expression among Jews in the Yiddish language to express dismay or exasperation. Oy vey in the English language means "oh, woe!" or "woe is me". It has become part of a stereotypical Jewish vocabulary along with the likes of "shalom" and "mazel tov". Even among non-Yiddish speakers and non-Jews, it is a very familiar Jewish saying. Originally, the word had no racist connotations and was used by both Jews and non-Jews. Recently though the word has been misappropriated and co-opted by the alt-right and by Anti-Semites as a way of mocking Jewish people and even to vandalise Jewish gravestones. "Oy vey, it's anuddah shoah!" has become a common way to mock any allegation of antisemitism. It is often used in conjunction with other anti-Semitic terms such as "the goyim know", "shekels" and "remember the 6 gorillion"". Just like Goy, "oy vey" has become an anti-Semitic term to demonize Jews, in this case for what the alt-right perceives as being part of a conspiracy. However, because of Poe's Law, it can be very difficult to distinguish ironic uses of "oy vey" and unironic uses, so be careful of distinguishing between the two uses.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221231140205/https://twitter.com/TurekAndrew/status/1594593867047014400))\ \ "Oy Vey Goyim ! Nothing to see here ! Get your third Booster! [Link to video about covid vaccines and myocarditis] "\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 21, 2022
Pajeet
_Surface forms_: Pajeet; Pajeets
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Asian\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Indian person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Pajeet is a slur, often used by the alt-right to mock Indians. The word is derived from paaji (elder brother in Punjabi) + generic Punjabi name (Sanjeet, Manjeet etc). It is almost always used with "jokes" about how Indians defecate in the open, citing out-of-date UNICEF statistics. "Designated shitting streets" and "Poo in loo" are variants of this, the former mocking a supposedly Indian user "defending" cases of open defecation, the latter mocking a comically titled UNICEF video intended to raise awareness on the matter. The term is also used by the Indian alt-right.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221231142918/https://twitter.com/gainzy222/status/1455491431561302019))\ \ "ah jeez the tiny dicked pajeet micro cap pump & dumper blocked me for making fun of his baby pips tutorial how am i gonna know which micro cap turbo moons on 0.1 eth liquidity next ?"\ \ _Speaker_: Gainzy (Social Media Influencer)\ _Date_: November 2, 2021
parents' right to choose
_Surface forms_: parents' right to choose
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-vax\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to vaccines\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word))\ \ Many 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 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 Jews are persecuted during the Holocaust.
Example context (in [_Press Release_](https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/west-virginia-sen-tarr-questions-covid-vaccine-safety-joins-senate-president-blair-in-opposition-of/article_c470fcca-514a-11ed-bfb3-9be1e4704c88.html))\ \ "This is a vaccine that does not have full scientific testing, there are thousands of proven side effects and long-term effects from people who have taken it, and we do not know for certain the problems it could possibly cause children down the road. At its core, this is an issue of parental choice, and in every case, I will side with our parents to make decisions for their children that align with their beliefs. I will not stand by and allow any state agency to interfere with our parents’ right to choose what’s best for their children."\ \ _Speaker_: Eric Tarr (West Virginia State Senator)\ _Date_: October 21, 2022
Pepe the Frog
_Surface forms_: Pepe the Frog; Pepe; Feels Good Man
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ The comic character Pepe had originally nothing to do with racism or anti-Semitism. Pepe gradually became part of niche Internet subcultures, where white supremacists appropriated it to communicate their messages in a visually compelling manner...Organizations such as the Anti-defamation League (ADL) eventually declared Pepe a hate symbol, rendering this dogwhistle useless.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220720215529/https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/851464151708950528))\ \ "KEK boys. Seek your 4chan. Don't stay in the underworld. Author your future. Code PEPE. Free 4 U 4 1 wk."\ \ _Speaker_: Jordan Peterson\ _Date_: April 10, 2017
personal responsibility
_Surface forms_: personal responsibility; individual responsibility
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to public spending perceived to benefit racial minorities over white people\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3579128 ))\ \ As it is used today, “personal responsibility” is a term that appears race-neutral on its face, but many Americans likely hear it as coded language signaling opposition to a welfare system they believe benefits minorities at the expense of majorities. King and Smith (2014) argue that in the wake of the 1960s civil rights laws arguments about racial policy shifted “from debates over segregation versus integration to disputes between colorbind and race-conscious policy choices” (958). “Personal responsibility” as color-blind but racially coded language can be seen in Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric surrounding welfare queens (Cammett 2014, 2016). While King and Smith (2014) highlight the advantages of color-blind rhetoric for conservative coalition building and Republican electoral campaigns, this rhetorical tool was also used by Democrats such as Bill Clinton in his welfare reform of 1996 (Cammett 2016; Pappas 1996). The net effect of this dog whistle was to paint using welfare as a failure of personal responsibility with the unspoken implication that the failure was most acute on the part of Black Americans and the undeserving poor (Gilens 2009). Thus, the very concept of “personal responsibility” needs to be understood as a strategic dog whistle used by politicians to signal opposition to expanding the welfare state on the grounds that “irresponsible” Black Americans would abuse it.
Example context (in [_Radio Address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-radio-address-288))\ \ "As we offer opportunity, we must also demand responsibility. The problems of our society will only be solved if there is an upsurge of personal responsibility, if individuals take it upon themselves to meet their obligations, do the right thing, and give something back to those around them. No area cries out for greater personal responsibility than the quiet crisis of child support. No one should be able to escape responsibility for bringing a child into the world. That is our first and most fundamental duty. But today, too many fathers have tried to walk away from that obligation. "\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Clinton\ _Date_: September 28, 1996
physical removal
_Surface forms_: physical removal
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Kill political opponents or non-white people\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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 in 2019.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220730013042/https://twitter.com/Ballsagna925/status/1553190937433706496))\ \ "Bruh, this crazy old guy is on my flight talking about the 1% and free college tuition, so I had to show him my physical removal shirt [Followed by selfie on a plane with Bernie Sanders in the background] "\ \ _Speaker_: Joshua Smith (Youtuber/Podcaster)\ _Date_: July 29, 2022
pilpul
_Surface forms_: pilpul
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jews are bad, and any counterargument is nonsense\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Pilpul (from the Hebrew פלפול‎) is roughly equivalent to the English "debating" or "arguing" in relation to the Talmud and its myriad and often contradictory rules and advice. In alt-right vernacular, it means approximately "anything that is offered as a counterargument to my arguments about Jews being bad" or such.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20200820020317/https://twitter.com/SSailor67/status/1296266111122468864))\ \ "You are obviously a Jew yourself. This is classic pilpul. I will not dignify your lies with direct rebuttals."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 19, 2020
pine tree emoji
_Surface forms_: 🌲; pine tree emoji; pine tree symbol 
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal connected to ecofascism\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The pine or spruce tree emoji 🌲 expresses a combination of "Nordic" roots and alt-right sympathies, especially as connects to ecofascism. Note that this may also be used by people in the Pacific Northwest, or who are interested in conifers, so context is important.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/ShawnPuebla/status/1556605721206071299))\ \ "Good Morning America! And all our brothers and sisters around the world! All My Relations 🙏🦅🌲🇺🇲"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 8, 2022
poisoning the well
_Surface forms_: poison the well; poisoning the well
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people infect non-Jews with diseases and/or harmful ideas\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ [Poisoning the well is] a smear tactic in which an opponent introduces negative information about their adversaries in order to discredit them. The term derives from the ancient war tactic of poisoning an opponent’s water to diminish his strength. “Poisoning the well,” an accusation rooted in the 14th century Bubonic Plague, blames Jews for purposefully spreading disease. As the Black Death spread across Europe, Jews were accused of spreading the infection through common drinking wells. Thousands of innocent Jews were murdered in response. This trope can be found on all sides of the political spectrum— from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which accused Jews of being “vermin” and spreading bacteria, to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s diatribes labeling Jews as “termites” also spreading disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jews were blamed by alternative figures on various far-right fringe platforms for creating and/or purposefully spreading COVID-19. This trope reached a more mainstream audience on the far-left, where political cartoons and statements were made saying Israel (or “Zionists”) created COVID-19 in order to hurt the Palestinians and/or profit off the vaccine.
Example context (in [_Tucker Carlson Tonight (Show on Fox News)_](https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20221020_050000_Tucker_Carlson_Tonight))\ \ "In fact, as you just heard Tiffany say, white people are a mortal danger to you and your loved ones. They threaten your life. Are they poisoning the well or baking bread with the blood of your children? If not, according to Tiffany Cross and MSNBC, they’re fully capable of doing those things."\ \ _Speaker_: Tucker Carlson (Fox News host)\ _Date_: October 19, 2022
political correctness
_Surface forms_: political correctness; politically correct
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: We should let people be openly racist\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.sapiens.org/language/white-power-dog-whistles/))\ \ Donald Trump’s path to the U.S. presidency in 2016 was paved with warnings about political correctness. Trump railed against it in his campaigning, while also famously referring to Mexicans as “rapists” and calling for a Muslim ban. Since then, it has become clear to increasing numbers of Americans that Trump’s attacks on political correctness are a form of racially coded messaging used to stoke the fires of the grievances and fear some White people feel. White power extremists have always heard these racist dog whistles loud and clear. For some, political correctness remains a much needed corrective to structural racism and the sorts of identity-based injustices that have returned to public focus during the Trump administration—especially after the killing of African American George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May. However, more often, the term is used in a negative manner, particularly by those on the right, to warn against Orwellian groupthink and threats to freedom of thought and speech. In the U.S., the term “political correctness” burst into public discussion in the 1990s as part of a conservative critique that claimed identity politics was shutting down debate, especially in universities. A 1990 New York Times essay, “The Rising Hegemony of the Politically Correct,” by the journalist Richard Bernstein, helped spark a controversy that has raged ever since. Of course, not everyone who attacks political correctness is a White power sympathizer.
Example context (in [_Commencement speech at the University of Michigan_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-university-michigan-commencement-ceremony-ann-arbor))\ \ "Ironically, on the 200th anniversary of our Bill of Rights, we find free speech under assault throughout the United States, including on some college campuses. The notion of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land. And although the movement arises from the laudable desire to sweep away the debris of racism and sexism and hatred, it replaces old prejudice with new ones. It declares certain topics off-limits, certain expression off-limits, even certain gestures off-limits. What began as a crusade for civility has soured into a cause of conflict and even censorship. Disputants treat sheer force -- getting their foes punished or expelled, for instance -- as a substitute for the power of ideas."\ \ _Speaker_: George Bush Sr.\ _Date_: May 4, 1991
power level
_Surface forms_: power level
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: How deeply someone has fallen into fascist ideology\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A person's "power level" indicates how deeply someone has fallen into fascist ideology. Internet Nazis often advise each other to "hide their power level" when speaking to those outside the fold, so as to avoid scaring away potential recruits with overt Nazi rhetoric or symbols (milk before meat). When a person uses such rhetoric in a public setting, they are "revealing their power level". The phrase comes from the Dragon Ball media franchise, and is also generally used on 4chan to describe one's knowledge of a topic, usually "nerd stuff" (so, in a non-Nazi usage, "hiding power level" may refer to not revealing too much about one's knowledge of video games, comic books, anime and other topics).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20221231152703/https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1594149654215946240))\ \ "Guys, when an account gets restored it doesn’t have all followers immediately. It takes time to be restored to full power - and longer depending on the power level of the account"\ \ _Speaker_: Jack Posobiec (alt-right political activist and television correspondent)\ _Date_: November 19, 2022
preemptive strike
_Surface forms_: pre-emptive strike; preemptive strike
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Unprovoked attack\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Refers to an unprovoked attack, made to sound like it is more justified.
Example context (in [_Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate _](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/letter-the-speaker-the-house-representatives-and-the-president-pro-tempore-the-senate-1))\ \ "These strikes were conducted in the exercise of our right of self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. This necessary and appropriate action was a pre-emptive strike, directed against the Libyan terrorist infrastructure and designed to deter acts of terrorism by Libya, such as the Libyan-ordered bombing of a discotheque in West Berlin on April 5. Libya's cowardly and murderous act resulted in the death of two innocent people—an American soldier and a young Turkish woman—and the wounding of 50 United States Armed Forces personnel and 180 other innocent persons. "\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: April 16, 1986
prefix "super"
_Surface forms_: superstraight; superlesbian
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans-exclusionary sexual preference\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Transphobes, and trans-exclusionary radical feminists in particular, are very fond of dogwhistles. For example the statement "I Love J. K. Rowling" is used to convey support for Rowling's transphobic statements; the term "super" as a prefix (e.g. to "straight", "lesbian", etc.) is used to signify a trans-exclusionary sexual "preference" (for example, a "superlesbian" would not knowingly date a trans woman).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20210910032915/https://twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1373100620299784192))\ \ "Why are the writers at Marvel allowed to write this sexual orientation into Captain America, who has always identified as #superstraight? Why is their bigotry considered acceptable?"\ \ _Speaker_: James Lindsay (author)\ _Date_: March 19, 2021
pro-family
_Surface forms_: pro-family
_Persona/In-Group_: homophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Anti-gay\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word))\ \ Broadly interpreted as homophobia (making many purported "family values" advocates rather "anti-family", 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 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).
Example context (in [_Press Release for new television ad_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/press-release-romney-for-president-launches-new-television-ad-not-politically-correct))\ \ "Today, Romney for President launched its newest television ad, "Not Politically Correct." The ad highlights Governor Romney's record of fighting for conservative principles in the bluest of blue states. When it was not politically correct, Governor Romney stood up for life, required English in the classroom and fought for marriage as between a man and a woman. Governor Romney believes that we can strengthen America by bringing pro-family, conservative change to Washington."\ \ _Speaker_: Romney for President Campaign\ _Date_: December 7, 2007
property rights
_Surface forms_: property rights; protecting property rights
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Right of property owners to discriminate racially\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ Freedom of association, Goldwater explained, meant the right of individuals to be free from government coercion in choosing whom to let onto their property—but in the South this meant first and foremost the right of business ownders to exclude blacks from hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and retail establishments… Goldwater sought assistance trimming his language, enlisting a Phoenix lawyer named William Rehnquist to help write the speech. Rehnquist was an outspoken critic of civil rights, with a track record going back to Brown itself. When that case was first argued, Rehnquist had been a law clerk to one of the justices hearing it, and had written a memo urging that segregation be upheld, averring that “Plessy v Ferguson was write and should be re-affirmed”. But in the decade since, Rehnquist had moderated his language, and by 1964 he couched his opposition to civil rights as support for property rights (that is, the right of property owners to discriminate racially), making him an ideal choice to help Goldwater recalibrate his message. Entitled “Civil Rights and the Common Good”, the talk reprised the property rights argument, but also took another rhetorical turn, masterfully co-opting the language of civil rights to oppose integration as a moral evil.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech in Georgia_](https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/02/archives/goldwater-finds-north-is-uneasy-says-some-see-rights-drive-as.html))\ \ "There is something to this term backlash — I call it reverse "English". The people in the North and West, while they are eager for the Negro to have all his rights, they don't want their property rights tampered with. The people feel they should have the right to say who lives near them."\ \ _Speaker_: Barry Goldwater (Republican presidential candidate)\ _Date_: May 1, 1964
protecting women and girls
_Surface forms_: protect women and girls; protecting women and girls; protecting women's spaces; protect women's spaces; defend women and girls; defending women and girls
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans women are predatory men\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ What this means is that they believe trans women don’t belong in women’s spaces. It’s a convincing one for a lot of people. I too believe in protecting women, girls and safe spaces, but unlike the majority AKA the cis, I know this is a transphobic dog whistle. Trans women are women and not predatory men.
Example context (in [_Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights_](http://web.archive.org/web/20200726181022/https://womensdeclaration.com/en/declaration-womens-sex-based-rights-full-text/))\ \ "The conflation of the category of sex with the category of ‘gender identity’ hinders the protection of women and girls from violence perpetrated against them by men and boys. It increasingly enables men who consider that they have a female ‘gender identity’ to claim access to female single sex victim support services and spaces, as both service users and as service providers. This includes specialist single-sex provisions for women and girls who have been subject to violence, such as shelters and health care facilities. It also includes other services in which single-sex provision is crucial to the promotion of the physical safety, health, privacy, and dignity of women and girls. The presence of men in female single-sex spaces and services undermines the role of these services in protecting women and girls, and could make women and girls vulnerable to violent men who may claim a female ‘gender identity’."\ \ _Speaker_: Women's Declaration International\ _Date_: July 26, 2020 [website first captured]
public school
_Surface forms_: public school; public schools
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Dangerous place with nonwhite kids that wastes tax dollars\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ For many whites, ‘public school’ itself operates as a dog whistle term, connoting a dangerous nonwhite place that consumes vast resources yet fails to educate masses of young delinquents. This connotation traces back to the civil rights era when conservatives framed integration as making schools unsafe for white children, and over the decades—as whites fled, schools resegregated, and student bodies in many districts became almost exclusively nonwhite—this ulterior meaning has only grown more potent…conservative dog whistling blasts along: government serves minorities, and fails them; liberalism wastes white tax dollars; fear government, trust the market.
Example context (in [_Opinion article for the Washington Examiner_](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/inside-a-public-school-social-justice-factory))\ \ "For decades, the public schools of Edina, Minnesota, were the gold standard among the state’s school districts. Edina is an upscale suburb of Minneapolis, but virtually overnight, its reputation has changed. Academic rigor is unraveling, high school reading and math test scores are sliding, and students increasingly fear bullying and persecution. The shift began in 2013, when Edina school leaders adopted the “All for All” strategic plan—a sweeping initiative that reordered the district’s mission from academic excellence for all students to “racial equity.”"\ \ _Speaker_: Katherine Kersten (Fellow at Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank)\ _Date_: February 1, 2018
pulling strings
_Surface forms_: pull the strings; pulling the strings; pulling strings
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://today.tamu.edu/2020/01/27/standing-up-against-anti-semitic-tropes-conspiracy-theories-critical-especially-for-non-jews/))\ \ Today’s anti-Semitic rhetoric shares much in common with what fueled the Holocaust and is often coded, making it difficult for some non-Jews to recognize. “Certain people use anti-Semitic code to communicate in-group solidarity with one another under the radar while simultaneously expressing bigotry against Jews,” Passmore said. “Some people use such tropes unwittingly because they’ve received them through upbringing or culture, but for the most part, it’s an intentional way to communicate group ideology.” Social media today is filled with such coded language and relies on stock characters, always with different names, depending on the times. Passmore said these include, “The Jew as imposter, the Jew as globalist, the Jew as thief, the Jew as trickster pulling the strings, the Jew as disruptor of our realization as a nation, as a people, or of our way of life.”
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210307231608/https://twitter.com/unscriptedmike/status/1368701958698205190))\ \ "From the militarized capital of DC ruled an evil, traitorous cabal, pulling the strings of a senile puppet president, who they had installed with devious fraud. Their goal was simple. Bring the remaining patriotic American people to their knees and crush Liberty once and for all."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 7, 2021
puppet masters
_Surface forms_: puppet master; puppet masters
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://antisemitism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Antisemitic-imagery-May-2020.pdf))\ \ The concept of a Jewish puppet master, pulling the strings behind the scenes and controlling the world is another form of the Jewish control conspiracy theory. Like the enemy behind the curtain, the controller, and the warmonger, these images depict Jews as being the shadowy hand controlling politic, wars, and other pressing global issues.
Example context (in [_Breitbart article_](http://web.archive.org/web/20201002181001/https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2016/06/27/puppet-master-soros-losses-big-betting-british-people/))\ \ "George “Puppet Master” Soros, who tried to use fear tactics to create panic among UK investors and voters in the run-up to the Brexit vote, suffered big financial losses when the British people chose to “leave” the European Union last week. "\ \ _Speaker_: Chriss W. Street (writer for Breitbart)\ _Date_: June 27, 2016
quotas
_Surface forms_: quota; quotas; racial quotas; diversity quotas
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to efforts to achieve gender or racial parity\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ "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
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220723221329/https://twitter.com/ChristianWalk1r/status/1347401635329417216))\ \ "Black people are worshipped in America through affirmative action and diversity quotas. White Trump supporters are shot in federal buildings and made fun of by celebrities. Save your “white privilege” myth for a stupid idiot."\ \ _Speaker_: Christian Walker (social media influencer and son of Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker)\ _Date_: January 7, 2021
race realism
_Surface forms_: race realism; racial realism; human biodiversity; HBD; scientific racism; race realist; race realists
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White people are better than other races\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Race realism (or "Human Biodiversity") is a pseudoscientific (and ironic) euphemism for the alt-right's racist beliefs. Use of the word "realism" is meant to both imply that there is a scientific basis to claims made about minority groups (despite the fact that most actual scientists have been able to find no such evidence whatsoever) and to implicitly accuse dissenters of denying reality.
Example context (in [_Reddit post on r/ChangeMyView_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230101231228/https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/3p3ohn/cmv_human_races_exist/))\ \ "I am a race realist. Race realists defend the existence of human races or subspecies, as opposed to race deniers. Race is just a subspecies - a group that has evolved somewhat differently from other members of the same species; mainly due to geografic differences. Now, I'm not getting into which race is "superior". I'm not a nazi. It is very well known that whites are smarter than hispanics and blacks, and that asians are smarter than whites, but that's not a reason to think that some people are inherently superior to others. I'm a Christian, I value all humans exactly the same."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 17, 2015
radical Islam
_Surface forms_: radical Islam
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim people as a whole are a threat\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ The term "radical Islam" is supposed to refer to those who are so extreme in their view of Islam that they are willing to carry out deadly terrorist attacks. But this term has taken a new shape to stoke fears of Islam and Muslim people as a whole. The most concrete proof of this is that fears over radical Islam have been used by many politicians to push for policies that broadly target Muslims. For example, on the presidential campaign trail, Jeb Bush called for preferential treatment of Syrian refugees who are Christian while having Muslims go through a more restrictive process, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul voted for a legislative amendment that would halt all immigration from dozens of Muslim countries with terrorist networks, and Donald Trump called for an all-out ban on Muslims traveling to the US. Again, all these policies, as politicians describe them, are meant to fight "radical Islam." But they end up targeting all Muslims, even though most of them want nothing to do with extremism or terrorism.
Example context (in [_Presidential campaign launch speech_](https://time.com/3773964/rand-paul-presidential-campaign-launch-speech-transcript/))\ \ "Without question we must defend ourselves and American interests from our enemies, but until we name the enemy, we can’t win the war. The enemy is radical Islam. You can’t get around it. And not only will I name the enemy, I will do whatever it takes to defend America from these haters of mankind."\ \ _Speaker_: Rand Paul\ _Date_: April 7, 2015
RaHoWa
_Surface forms_: RaHoWa; #RaHoWa
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Racial holy war\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ RaHoWa is an abbreviation of racial holy war.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220211020239/https://twitter.com/CityBureaucrat/status/1491954519789428767))\ \ "Thank you for boosting our numbers, Candace. We are going to need them during RAHOWA."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: February 10, 2022
Reagan
_Surface forms_: Reagan; Reagans
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Conservative person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a conservative
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230102181426/https://twitter.com/USA_Infidel247/status/782400291140349952))\ \ "I hate the Skittle ideology of waging skittle-jihad on Reagans, A Leppos, Fishbuckets! The car salesmen love to choke on Skittles and Google"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 2, 2016
red square emoji
_Surface forms_: 🟥; red square emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic persona signal, specifically signals opposition to letting trans women use women's bathrooms and shelters\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Another dog whistle used by TERFs in their bios and names on Twitter. It indicates that the user opposes letting trans women use women's washrooms and shelters, co-opting the "no means no" slogan used for decades by anti-rape campaigners.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/twitsy16/status/1283440911381409793))\ \ "Er I am an ACTUAL woman not a feeling 🟥😂😂😂"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: July 15, 2020
references to cities with large racial minority populations being overrun by crime, drugs, rodents
_Surface forms_: Chicago; Detroit; Cleveland; Baltimore
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Minorities are dirty and criminals\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word))\ \ Another way to complain about minorities without offense is to complain about ghettos, the bad part of town, 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.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-27-2019))\ \ "Rep Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA...... ...As proven last week during a Congressional tour the Border is clean efficient & well run just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: July 27, 2019
religious freedom
_Surface forms_: religious freedom; religious liberty; freedom of religion; religious liberties; God-given liberties; God-given liberty
_Persona/In-Group_: homophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Discrimination against LGBTQ people \ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy ))\ \ In the battle over LGBTQ rights over the past few years, one term that has increasingly popped up in the public dialogue is "religious freedom." The term is purposely broad to imply that people are fighting for their general religious rights — when it's actually about protecting someone's "religious freedom" to discriminate against LGBTQ people. The case of Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis shows the term's coded use. Davis and her supporters argued that she was merely standing up for her religious freedom. But what she was actually standing up for was her ability to deny same-sex couples their constitutional right to marry by refusing to let her government office issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Similarly, advocacy groups have pushed "religious freedom" laws around the country to allow discrimination — particularly in restaurants and other places that serve the public — against LGBTQ people. (Legal experts, however, argue these laws could not be used to legally justify discrimination.) "Religious freedom," then, is a term that sounds good on its face, since Americans by and large support letting people practice their chosen faith in peace. But given the context in which it's commonly used, it now carries an anti-LGBTQ sentiment to it, also implying LGBTQ people are inherently antithetical to religion itself.
Example context (in [_Republican party platform_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2016-republican-party-platform))\ \ "We pledge to defend the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of all Americans and to safeguard religious institutions against government control. We endorse the First Amendment Defense Act, Republican legislation in the House and Senate which will bar government discrimination against individuals and businesses for acting on the belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. This Act would protect the non-profit tax status of faith-based adoption agencies, the accreditation of religious educational institutions, the grants and contracts of faith-based charities and small businesses, and the licensing of religious professions — all of which are under assault by elements of the Democratic Party. We encourage every state to pass similar legislation. We likewise endorse the efforts of Republican state legislators and governors who have defied intimidation from corporations and the media in defending religious liberty. "\ \ _Speaker_: Republican Party\ _Date_: July 18, 2016
Remove Kebab
_Surface forms_: Remove Kebab; Serbia Strong; Dat Face Soldier; kebab removal; kebab removalist; removing kebab
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Kill Muslims\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Remove kebab originates from the nickname given to a propaganda video, which is also commonly called Serbia Strong, though the actual title in Serbian is Караџићу, води Србе своје / Karadžiću, vodi Srbe svoje (Karadžić, Lead Your Serbs), and is also known as Бог је Србин и он ће нас чувати / Bog je Srbin i on će nas čuvati (God Is a Serb and He Will Protect Us). The video repeatedly pops up on YouTube even though it was banned. It was produced by three Bosnian Serb soldiers in tribute to Radovan Karadžić, who was convicted for war crimes against Bosnian Muslims. The accordionist in the recording, Novislav Đajić, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for the murder of 14 people during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. A still frame of Đajić’s face from the recording (he’s in military fatigues and playing an accordion), subsequently became a 4chan meme, known as "Dat Face Soldier". In short: the "remove kebab" alt-right concept of the song positively references the killing, expulsion, and genocide of Muslims ("kebabs"). And yes, they think it's edgy. The proper response may be found in Polandball.The phrase received more mainstream media attention after its use by the perpetrator of the Christchurch terrorist attacks.
Example context (in [_Reddit post on r/guns_](https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/4iwk2m/comment/d33imla/))\ \ "I wish I lived in a country that didn't view AKs as the devil's gun. It's hard being a Canadian. Damn liberal tyrants preventing us from removing kebab. (I know there are Valmet options, but it's just not the same)"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 12, 2016
right to know
_Surface forms_: just label it; right to know
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-GMO\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Eliminating genetic engineering in the food industry\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ The anti-GMO movement has notably used rhetoric around "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 industry front group that has been more focused on harassing scientists than giving the public valuable information.
Example context (in [_Just Label It Campaign About Page_](http://web.archive.org/web/20120312092020/https://www.justlabelit.org/about-just-label-it/))\ \ "Studies show that more than 90% of Americans support mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods. Yet for twenty years we have been denied that right. While our reasons for wanting to know what’s in our food may vary, what unifies us is the belief that it’s our right to know. Without labeling of GE foods, we cannot make informed choices about our food. The Just Label It campaign was created to advocate for the labeling of GE foods."\ \ _Speaker_: Just Label It (campaign for mandatory labeling of GMO foods)\ _Date_: March 12, 2012 (first captured)
right to work
_Surface forms_: right to work; economic freedom; freedom to work; right-to-work laws
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-GMO\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Union-busting\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Used to put a warm, fuzzy glow on policies aimed at busting unions 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.
Example context (in [_Vice Presidential Debate_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/vice-presidential-debate-houston-texas))\ \ "Now, George Meany, he wants the right-to-work law repealed in Texas, in my state. Senator Mondale's for the repeal of right-to-work laws. He wants to force you to join a labor union. Seventy-five percent of America's working men and women don't belong to labor unions, but they will if George Meany and Governor Carter and Senator Mondale have their way. They've also got some big Proposition Fourteen out in California where organizers come on your property three hours a day and organize farmers, unionize farmers. Governor Carter's for that. I assume Senator Mondale's for that. Certainly Cesar Chavez is, and other labor leaders. I just say they ought to have influence; they shouldn't have domination."\ \ _Speaker_: Bob Dole (former Kansas senator and 1976 vice presidential candidate)\ _Date_: October 15, 1976
Roman imagery
_Surface forms_: Roman imagery, insignia, symbols
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ Alongside symbols, emojis, and hashtags, a large number of white supremacist accounts utilized insignia of ancient Rome and imagery from medieval ages to tie their current movements to the past. These images included leaders of the French Revolution to the architects of US monuments who symbolized their bygone power and legitimacy. Little (2018) shows how by using letters from the medieval alphabet as symbols in uniforms or flags, white supremacist emphasize that Europe is the “ancestral homeland” of white people like them and no one else. These symbols or flags often reappeared in memes, while images representing medieval events were often tweeted by the accounts we studied. Despite ample evidence that medieval Europe was in fact diverse and multicultural, historical accounts have been criticized for underrepresenting this diversity (cf., Kim, 2019; Little, 2018). Consequently, historical accounts, imagery, and symbols from that time are used to emphasize the supposed whiteness of Europe during these times and the idea that contemporary white supremacists must fight to reclaim this “ancestral homeland.”
Example context (in [_"Unite the Right" Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia_](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/08/12/flags-and-other-symbols-used-far-right-groups-charlottesville))\ \ "Roman Legion Flag [Flag depicting an eagle holding a fasces standing inside of a laurel wreath. Each of these symbols have been adopted by various elements of the far right.]"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 12, 2017
rootless cosmopolitan
_Surface forms_: rootless cosmopolitan; rootless cosmopolitans
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://helenldecruz.medium.com/the-anti-semitic-origins-of-citizens-of-nowhere-3e50436e6fc3))\ \ What is less well known is that charges of “rootless cosmopolitanism”, “citizen of nowhere”, and “international elite”, are anti-semitic tropes, which have been used throughout the 20th century to cast aspersions on Jews. Soviet anti-Semites in the 1940s and 1950s used the term “rootless cosmopolitan” to refer to Jewish intellectuals, who were regarded as not being committed enough to the Soviet Union. The caricature of the cosmopolitan Jew was someone who was very rich, and who was at home everywhere and nowhere. We can go even further back, into the Weimar Republic, where Hitler and others used charges of cosmopolitanism against Jews, pitting them against the native-born population, described by Hitler in his 1933 campaign speech to Siemens factory workers as “people [who] are bounded to their soil, bounded to its fatherland, bounded to the possibilities of life that the state … offers”. By contrast, Hitler described Jews as “…a small, rootless, international clique that is turning the people against each other, that does not want them to have peace. It is the people who are at home both nowhere and everywhere, who do not have anywhere a soil on which they have grown up, but who live in Berlin today, in Brussels tomorrow, Paris the day after that, and then again in Prague or Vienna or London, and who feel at home everywhere.”
Example context (in [_Speech to Serbian American Voters Alliance _](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/tucker-carlson-favorite-douglas-macgregor-stone-age-indigenous-people-south-asian))\ \ "I remembered Philadelphia in the 1960s, then I heard this and something dawned on me. This is a microcosm of everything that's wrong now in the United States, because we have a huge problem with a class of so-called elites, the people who are wealthy, very wealthy in many cases and they are, as the Russians used to call certain individuals many, many years ago, rootless cosmopolitans."\ \ _Speaker_: Douglas Macgregor (retired US Army Col. and a frequent Fox News guest)\ _Date_: October 27, 2021
Rothschilds
_Surface forms_: Rothschild; Rothschilds; Rothschild family
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control all the money\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.adl.org/resources/report/quantifying-hate-year-anti-semitism-twitter))\ \ A longstanding anti-Semitic conspiracy theory posits that a cabal of Jews led by members of the Rothschild banking family have been manipulating currency and exerting influence on regional and national events since the early 19th century for the purposes of personal enrichment and/or world domination. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists claim that the Rothschilds interfered with the American Revolution, financed Nazism and/or the Bolshevik Revolution, perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, and created the state of Israel. They also allege that the Rothschilds are some of the chief architects of an impending “New World Order” which will abolish nationalities and enslave humanity.
Example context (in [_Facebook post_](https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene-penned-conspiracy-theory-laser-beam-space-started-deadly-2018))\ \ "As there are now over 70 people confirmed dead and over 1,000 missing, the fires in CA are a horrific tragedy. I’m praying for all involved! I’m posting this in speculation because there are too many coincidences to ignore… I find it very interesting that Roger Kimmel on the board of directors of PG&E is also Vice Chairman of Rothschild Inc, an international investment banking firm. I also find interesting the long history of financial contributions that PG&E has made to Jerry Brown over the years and millions spent in lobbying…Space solar generators collect the suns energy and then beam it back to Earth to a transmitter to convert to electricity. The idea is clean energy to replace coal and oil. If they are beaming the suns energy back to Earth, I’m sure they wouldn’t ever miss a transmitter receiving station right??!! I mean mistakes are never made when anything new is invented. What would that look like anyway? A laser beam or light beam coming down to Earth I guess. Could that cause a fire? Hmmm, I don’t know. I hope not! That wouldn’t look so good for PG&E, Rothschild Inc, Solaren, Or Jerry Brown….Seems like there’s a lot of connected people in this crowd. And with these space solar generators, I really hope they have very good aim beaming the suns power down to Earth…"\ \ _Speaker_: Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia Representative)\ _Date_: November 17, 2018
run your own schools
_Surface forms_: run your own schools; running your own schools; local control of schools
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Support for racial segregation in schools\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/5/28/1302600/-Decoding-the-education-reform-dog-whistles))\ \ There's a hidden meaning to the call for "local control" of schools that you might not understand unless you're familiar with the resistance to desegregation. After Brown v. Board of Education...in some places, the desegregation efforts consisted of, basically, striking all references to race but otherwise doing little else to end desegregation.  The "white" high school was no longer legally the white high school, but still had a nearly all-white student body, and the same went for the "black" high school.  In these districts, the DOJ eventually had to sue the district in federal court and have a federal judge order the school district to comply with Brown -- in some cases, these lawsuits continued for decades.  In districts that were sued to desegregate, so long as the lawsuit was still pending (meaning that a federal judge had not declared the school system to be unitary), even the smallest change to attendance boundaries would have to be approved by a federal judge before it could go into effect.  And forget about opening a new school or closing a school -- those had to be approved as well.  In some cases, judges even took the step of ordering changes to attendance boundaries or school closings -- frequently, the latter step would be taken to close the old black school and send the students to the old white school once it became clear that the resistance to desegregation among the white population was too strong to integrate the school district any other way.  (When this happened, white flight was the usual result -- once federal courts overcame the resistance to desegregation, whites would frequently send their children to private schools or move to a nearby school district that had fewer black students in it.) So, Republican calls for "local control" of schools hearken back to the massive white resistance to desegregation.  Local control, in their parlance, meant freeing the school district from control by a federal judge.  Now it's frequently used as an assault on federal mandates like Common Core and No Child Left Behind, but the history of the term makes it clear that, at least to some people, "local control" is a dog whistle in the same vein as "state's rights."
Example context (in [_Republican party platform_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-party-platform-1964))\ \ "In furtherance of our faith in the individual, we also pledge the maximum restraint of Federal intrusions into matters more productively left to the individual. For instance, we pledge: —to continue Republican sponsorship of practical Federal-State-local programs which will effectively treat the needs of the poor, while resisting, direct Federal handouts that erode away individual self-reliance and self-respect and perpetuate dependency; —to continue the advancement of education on all levels, through such programs as selective aid to higher education, strengthened State and local tax resources, including tax credits for college education, while resisting the Democratic efforts which endanger local control of schools; —to help assure equal opportunity and a good education for all, while opposing Federally-sponsored "inverse discrimination," whether by the shifting of jobs, or the abandonment of neighborhood schools, for reasons of race;"\ \ _Speaker_: Republican Party\ _Date_: July 13, 1964
RWDS
_Surface forms_: RWDS
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Right Wing Death Squads / kill all opponents\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ RWDS is an acronym for Right Wing Death Squads. Alt-righters hope for right wing death squads so that their enemies (communists, black people, Muslims and Jews) can be killed. Like many alt-right memes it is indistinguishable from parody and therefore can be misinterpreted as a joke
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://archive.is/uoKZC ))\ \ "This isnt (((your))) country, flee to israel while we're feeling generous. #AltRight #RWDS"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 9, 2016
safeguarding
_Surface forms_: safeguard; safeguarding; safeguarding children; child safeguarding
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Young people should not have access to gender-affirming care\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ In the United Kingdom and Ireland, "safeguarding" refers to measures designed to protect children, youth, and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect. TERFs in the UK have co-opted the term as a euphemism for their crusade against young people's access to transition care. In December 2020, they succeeded in effectively banning transition care for people under 16 in the country, and immediately switched to calling for limiting adults' access.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/sharrond62/status/1602668286013063168))\ \ "I’ve never lived in such misogynistic times as now. We must push back or loose so much of what we’ve (our mothers&grandmothers) have fought for. Do NOT be bullying into so-called ‘being kind’ at the detriment of fairness/safety for all females & especially safeguarding children"\ \ _Speaker_: Sharron Davies (British athlete)\ _Date_: December 13, 2022
save women's sports
_Surface forms_: save women's sports; save girls' sports; protect women's sports
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans women are a threat to cis women\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ "Save women's sports" – including its variants, "save girls' sports", "protect women's sports", etc. – is a transphobic trope often promoted by TERFs. Similar to the "bathroom scare", the intent of the trope is to baselessly portray trans women as a grave threat to cis women and to whip up a moral panic around the trope to harm trans women and their well-being. The trope is primarily used to ridicule all trans people, and hysterical articles about "save women's sports" are frequently illustrated with carefully selected, non-flattering pictures of masculine-looking trans women who are not very representative of trans women. Very few trans women are in fact taking any part in competitive women's sports at all, and many trans women are afraid of coming into contact with that kind of arenas. Yet this spurious trope of very limited relevance gets disproportionate attention in transphobic discourse even in mainstream media outlets. The trope conveniently ignores that many cis men and women have significant biological and other advantages compared to other people of the same cis gender.
Example context (in [_Opinion article for The Hill_](https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/3731201-new-rules-are-working-to-save-womens-sports/))\ \ "Last June, biking champion Kate Weatherly, who identifies as a trans woman, lamented the new exclusion of trans-woman-identified athletes from certain women’s sports. The rules now applied to women’s swimming would ban Weatherly from women’s biking if they were applied there as well. These comments led the hashtag #savewomenssports to trend on Twitter, showing that many people welcome new rules that keep women’s sports open only to biological females. This idea is controversial, but it shouldn’t be… …So, if what we mean by “woman” is “adult human female,” trans women are not women. If all we mean by “woman” is “feminine,” then we should probably just say that. Regardless of how we identify trans women, they are not female athletes. We must save women’s sports, so that biological women can retain fair and competitive athletic spaces. "\ \ _Speaker_: Elizabeth Grace Matthew (writer)\ _Date_: November 11, 2022
school choice
_Surface forms_: school choice; school vouchers; education reform; educational choice; parental choice
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Racial segregation in schools\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://thedemlabs.org/2022/02/28/dogwhistle-politics-culture-wars-republicans-use-to-get-elected/))\ \ Means students shouldn’t be bound to attending schools in their local neighborhoods, but rather should have the freedom to attend any school that fits their needs. School choice for Republicans is a code word for segregation and allowing discrimination. It is a code word for the privatization of public schools. Rather than federal dollars going to public schools for teaching improvements or community learning, Republicans believe those dollars are better spent in the form of a voucher, which can be used toward tuition at a private or charter school.
Example context (in [_Remarks in Sarasota, Florida_](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/gov-desantis-speaks-in-sarasota-8-21-22-transcript))\ \ "Unfortunately, even here in Florida, that if you elect these leftists to these school boards, they can do a lot of damage. They want to impose an ideology on our school children. We believe in education, not indoctrination. We believe that parents have a fundamental role in the education and upbringing of their children. We support schools, both charter schools, school districts, private schools, home school, we support everything in Florida but a school or a district does not supersede the rights of parents. …We’ve also expanded parental choice, school choice for people all throughout the state of Florida. You now have … We have 1.3 million students that are in some type of choice program, whether a private scholarship, whether a charter school or whether choice within a school district. That’s a massive number of people. When I was growing up in Florida, wherever you lived, you went to the neighborhood school and that was that, even if that school wasn’t meeting your needs or wasn’t what the parent wanted."\ \ _Speaker_: Ron DeSantis (Florida Governor)\ _Date_: August 21, 2022
secure the border
_Surface forms_: secure the border; securing the border; secure our border; securing our border
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Latino\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Keep out Latinos\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ 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 Communist, Liberal or what-not).
Example context (in [_Roundtable Discussion with members of the National Sheriffs' Association_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-roundtable-discussion-with-members-the-national-sheriffs-association))\ \ "We're asking Congress to support our immigration policy that keeps terrorists, drug dealers, criminals, and gang members out of our country. We want them out. We don't want them in. And right now we're working on DACA, we're working on immigration bills, and we're making them tough so you people can enforce the laws—sometimes tough because of the laws you have to enforce... But we want securing the border and a wall, ending chain migration, and canceling the visa lottery. I think you all agree. Anybody in favor of the lottery, where you pick it out and you say, "Good, we have a new United States citizen"? Doesn't work. And they're not giving us their finest. That we can tell you. In everything we do, we're listening to law enforcement, and we're putting the safety and security of American people first."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: February 13, 2018
security from unrest
_Surface forms_: security from unrest; safety from unrest
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Racial minorities threaten white people's safety\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ Forced bussing, law and order, and security from unrest as the essential civil right of the majority—all of these were coded phrases that allowed Nixon to appeal to racial fears without overtly mentioning race at all. Yet race remained the indisputable, intentional subtext of the appeal.
Example context (in [_State of the Union address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-2))\ \ "The decade of the sixties was also a period of great growth economically. But in that same 10-year period we witnessed the greatest growth of crime, the greatest increase in inflation, the greatest social unrest in America in 100 years. Never has a nation seemed to have had more and enjoyed it less… We have heard a great deal of overblown rhetoric during the sixties in which the word "war" has perhaps too often been used--the war on poverty, the war on misery, the war on disease, the war on hunger. But if there is one area where the word "war" is appropriate it is in the fight against crime. We must declare and win the war against the criminal elements which increasingly threaten our cities, our homes, and our lives. We have a tragic example of this problem in the Nation's Capital, for whose safety the Congress and the Executive have the primary responsibility. I doubt if many Members of this Congress who live more than a few blocks from here would dare leave their cars in the Capitol garage and walk home alone tonight. Last year this administration sent to the Congress 13 separate pieces of legislation dealing with organized crime, pornography, street crime, narcotics, crime in the District of Columbia. None of these bills has reached my desk for signature."\ \ _Speaker_: Richard Nixon\ _Date_: January 22, 1970
send me
_Surface forms_: send me
_Persona/In-Group_: religious\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Signal that one is an Evangelical Christian\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-013-9265-x))\ \ The phrase references a passage in the Bible (Isaiah 6:8).
Example context (in [_Endorsement for John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-democratic-national-convention-boston))\ \ "Here is what I know about John Kerry. During the Vietnam War, many young men—including the current president, the vice president and me—could have gone to Vietnam but didn’t. John Kerry came from a privileged background and could have avoided it too. Instead he said, send me. When they sent those swift-boats up the river in Vietnam, and told them their job was to draw hostile fire—to show the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight—John Kerry said, send me. When it was time to heal the wounds of war and normalize relations with Vietnam—and to demand an accounting of the POWs and MIAs we lost there—John Kerry said, send me. When we needed someone to push the cause of inner-city kids struggling to avoid a life of crime, or to bring the benefits of high technology to ordinary Americans, or to clean the environment in a way that creates jobs, or to give small businesses a better chance to make it, John Kerry said send me. Tonight my friends, I ask you to join me for the next 100 days in telling John Kerry’s story and promoting his plans. Let every person in this hall and all across America say to him what he has always said to America: Send Me."\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Clinton\ _Date_: July 26, 2004
sex is real
_Surface forms_: sex is real; #SexIsReal; biological sex is real
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Gender identities are not real, and trans people are erasing realities of biological sex\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ Yes [sex is real], but like gender it is highly socially constructed and definitely not binary. People say this because they think trans people want to erase the realities of biological sex, when it is trans men and AFAB nonbinary people who are fighting for gyno care for example.Sex is really irrelevant when talking about trans rights. The only person who needs to know my sex is my doctor.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220517074847/https://twitter.com/SimonClarkeMP/status/1526469679723716609))\ \ "Biological sex *is* real and stories like the one below are deeply concerning. Coming hard on the heels of the aggressive intolerance displayed at the Pankhurst statue, it is time to draw up a line in defence of both free speech and the rights of women."\ \ _Speaker_: Simon Clarke (British Member of Parliament)\ _Date_: May 17, 2022
sex not gender
_Surface forms_: sex not gender; #SexNotGender
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people aren't real\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A hashtag that is an exclusionary dog whistle that they reject gender science in favor of sex.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220809230034/https://twitter.com/JEFFVARNER/status/1520574452618207235))\ \ "We LGB spent decades proving we weren’t trying to convert children. Then came the gender ideology cult, hijacking decades of progress, crafting narratives that erase us, misleading confused kids, grooming them 2 join in. Sends us all back 20 years. #sexnotgender"\ \ _Speaker_: Jeff Varner (TV personality and journalist)\ _Date_: May 1, 2022
sex-based rights
_Surface forms_: sex-based rights; women's sex-based rights
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: trans people threaten women's rights\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://medium.com/@davidallsopp/sex-based-rights-are-contradictory-nonsense-e58d3bca7d3e))\ \ [David Allsopp] The background: many anti-transgender people — transphobes, Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs), “gender critical feminists”, or whatever you want to call them — have a mantra about how women’s “sex-based rights” are somehow being threatened, removed, weakened, eroded, or erased by transgender rights. They normally upgrade the slogan to “hard-fought sex-based rights” or “hard-won sex-based rights”, for additional emphasis. Rebecca dismantles this ahistorical nonsense in her article. See also: How did public bathrooms get to be separated by sex in the first place? on the “separate spheres” ideology of the 19th Century. Now, the fundamental point is that “sex-based rights”, by the plain English meaning of those words, cannot exist in a country that has equality law, like the UK. If your rights are equal, then they cannot be based upon your sex, by definition. The phrase flatly contradicts the central principles of our equality law — see the Equality Act 2010 statute, guidance, and particularly the statutory code of practice. So, what do anti-trans people mean when they use this phrase? They rarely explain, because it’s mostly a dog-whistle: a rallying slogan much like “family values” for religious conservatives, which sounds wholesome but is a deniable and slippery code-word for a whole raft of unpleasant bigotry.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220722130711/https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1277264893394202626))\ \ "When so-called leftists like @lloyd_rm demand that we give up our hard won sex-based rights, they align themselves squarely with men’s rights activists. To both groups, female trauma is white noise, an irrelevance, or else exaggerated or invented. "\ \ _Speaker_: J.K. Rowling\ _Date_: June 28, 2020
Sharia law
_Surface forms_: Sharia law; Shariah law; Sharia; Shariah
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslims are violent and present a threat to Americans\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ Another scary-sounding term for Muslims is Sharia law, which describes a legal system that pushes Islam in both public and private life. To be clear, there is absolutely no chance of Sharia law going into effect anywhere in the US. Still, politicians have stoked fears about it since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Some states, including, most recently, South Carolina, have even moved to ban Sharia law in state courtrooms. (Courts routinely consider foreign law when overseeing, for instance, the end of marriages that happened in other countries, but they don't enforce Sharia law.) There's even a website, BanShariaLaw.com, dedicated to the bans. Fears of Sharia law play into the idea that Muslims are infiltrating the US and threatening to impose their ways on other Americans, so everyone should fear even Muslims who appear moderate. This is, once again, a way of lumping the majority of Muslims — who want nothing to do with extremism — into the same category as extreme followers of the religion.
Example context (in [_Speech at the American Enterprise Institute_](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/us/politics/in-shariah-gingrich-sees-mortal-threat-to-us.html))\ \ "I believe Sharia is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the United States and in the world as we know it. I think it's that straightforward and that real... Stealth jihadis use political, cultural, societal, religious, intellectual tools; violent jihadis use violence. But in fact they’re both engaged in jihad, and they’re both seeking to impose the same end state, which is to replace Western civilization with a radical imposition of Shariah. "\ \ _Speaker_: Newt Gingrich (Former Georgia representative and House Speaker)\ _Date_: July 29, 2010
shekels
_Surface forms_: shekels; shekel
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Money with the connotation that Jews are greedy\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/eric-trump-said-flap-over-his-use-anti-semitic-dog-whistle-is-nonsense-others-beg-differ/))\ \ His use of the word “shekels” set off a round of accusations, questions and head-scratching among political commentators, drawing a spate of media coverage. Although it is the word for the currency in Israel and an occasionally used slang term for money in the United States, it is also a common anti-Semitic trope on white-supremacist sites and in message boards threads about Jewish conspiracies, greed and supposed control of industries such as Hollywood, finance, media and publishing. “It’s generally used sarcastically (usually with the /r/conspiracy crowd) to refer to money, often with the connotation that Jews are greedy and try to control the market,” a commenter on the site Reddit explained in a thread about the use of the term two years ago. A cursory glance at the neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer and the Internet message board 4chan yielded a flurry of recent posts with the word, nearly all of the uses offensive.
Example context (in [_Televised Interview on Fox & Friends_](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/12/eric-trump-anti-semitism-accusations-818070))\ \ "But don’t you think people look through the fact that you can write a sensational nonsense book, CNN will definitely have you on there, because they love to trash the president. It will mean you sell three extra books, you make three extra shekels. I mean, at the behest of the American people, at the behest of our country, and a president that’s doing a phenomenal job by every quantifiable metric. I mean, is that really where we are? I think people read through this. I know people read through this."\ \ _Speaker_: Eric Trump (Donald Trump's son)\ _Date_: September 12, 2018
Shlomo
_Surface forms_: Shlomo; Schlomo
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Shlomo or Schlomo, meaning peaceable, is a common Hebrew male given name. It is the anglicization of the Hebrew שְׁלֹמֹה ("Shlomoh"), referring to Solomon. Those in the alt-right use Shlomo as a synonym of Jewish. Alt-right trolls will often use aliases such as Shlomo Shekelberg on social media. Such accounts often use the Happy Merchant as their profile picture.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230102215512/https://twitter.com/semper_vincit/status/1606783184888541184))\ \ "Zelensky got $ 45 billion from Uncle Shlomo. But, how many kg of cocaine he left with?"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 24, 2022
shoah
_Surface forms_: shoah; shoah'd; shoahed
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Shut down, especially alt-right social media accounts by referencing the Holocaust\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Shoah ("catastrophe" or "calamity") is the Hebrew term used since the 1940s to describe the Holocaust. Alt-right website The Right Stuff has a podcast called The Daily Shoah, its name being both a play on The Daily Show and a deliberately offensive reference to the Holocaust. In alt-right circles, shoahed or shoah'd essentially means "shut down", and usually refers to the suspension of an alt-righter's social media account.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://archive.is/whXjT#selection-3497.0-3521.55 ))\ \ "This flame 🔥is a tribute to all the #AltRight accounts that #Twitter has ruthlessly shoah'd in its war against free speech."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: April 14, 2017
silent majority
_Surface forms_: silent majority
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Conservative white Americans who are threatened by racial minorities \ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/opinion/populism-and-the-silent-majority.html))\ \ Nixon’s conservative populism attempted to obscure the differences between working-class and affluent voters by portraying the silent majority as both heroes and victims of this tumultuous period. In the 1968 campaign, Nixon praised the “forgotten Americans, the nonshouters, the nondemonstrators” — hard-working, tax-paying Americans whose values were under siege by antiwar protesters, urban rioters, criminals and antipoverty liberals. In 1970, Nixon’s chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, asked the president’s political team to develop “a plan to mobilize the Silent Majority.” The White House operative Charles Colson incorporated “Silent Majority Inc.” in all 50 states and organized rallies through fake grass-roots organizations like Americans for Winning the Peace and the Honor America Committee. The administration worked on an internal “blue-collar strategy” to finesse the economic liberalism and cultural conservatism of white working-class Democrats viewed as potential Republican voters. The White House even orchestrated the formation of a National Black Silent Majority Committee to represent African-Americans being “shouted down by a handful of militants.” Nixon was always careful to say that black Americans were part of the silent majority, but his populist agenda targeted white voters who believed that the civil rights and antiwar movements had gone too far. “Enough Is Enough,” a manifesto circulated by conservative groups in the late 1960s, spoke for the Americans who “pay taxes to provide schools for sit-ins, books for burning, rallying points for off-campus riots and study courses in anarchism.” During the 1972 campaign, Nixon invited “those millions who have been driven out of their home in the Democratic party ... to join us as members of a new American majority.”
Example context (in [_Televised address to the nation on the war in Vietnam_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-nation-the-war-vietnam))\ \ "Let historians not record that when America was the most powerful nation in the world we passed on the other side of the road and allowed the last hopes for peace and freedom of millions of people to be suffocated by the forces of totalitarianism. And so tonight-to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans-I ask for your support. I pledged in my campaign for the Presidency to end the war in a way that we could win the peace. I have initiated a plan of action which will enable me to keep that pledge. The more support I can have from the American people, the sooner that pledge can be redeemed; for the more divided we are at home, the less likey, the enemy is to negotiate at Paris. Let us be united for peace. Let us also be united against defeat. Because let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that."\ \ _Speaker_: Richard Nixon\ _Date_: November 3, 1969
single parent
_Surface forms_: single parent; single-parent household; single mom; single mother
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Blaming Black parents (especially women) for poverty, crime, and dependence on public assistance\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-assets/faculty/pedagogy/ACammett-SSRN-id2457225-Deadbeat-Dads-Welfare-Queen.pdf))\ \ The social construction of poor Black single mothers deemed them the agents of their own misfortune due to their unmarried status— assumed to indicate loose morals, hypersexuality, and presumed laziness— framed as reliance on public assistance rather than work. For example, stigmatizing metaphors such as the “Welfare Queen” were built on longstanding race and gender stereotypes and widely held beliefs. These perceptions persisted despite the fact that for most of the history of AFDC, these mothers were routinely restricted from accessing benefits for which they were eligible. Nevertheless, the “public identity” of the Welfare Queen, though coined and popularized in the 1980s, had already been shaped in the public imagination by the 1960s. [Assistant Labor Secretary, Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s] 1965 report, entitled The Negro Family: The Case For National Action, argued that the basic problem for the Black population was male unemployment and the low wages Black workers received. Most people agreed with that basic premise. The Report, however, concentrated on the instability of Black family life, particularly the “proliferation of the single-parent or female-headed family and its illegitimate offspring.” Moynihan considered these to be the major causes of what he called a “tangle of pathology” that “helped to mire many Blacks in poverty.” In short, Black families’ failure to adapt to the family wage paradigm created internal conditions through its matriarchal structure that were self-replicating and intergenerational, including poor school performance, street crime, delinquency, and drug use.
Example context (in [_Radio Address to the Nation on Welfare Reform_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/radio-address-the-nation-welfare-reform-0))\ \ "Perhaps the most insidious effect of welfare is its usurpation of the role of provider. In States where payments are highest, for instance, public assistance for a single mother can amount to much more than the usable income of a minimum wage job. In other words, it can pay for her to quit work. Many families are eligible for substantially higher benefits when the father is not present. What must it do to a man to know that his own children will be better off if he is never legally recognized as their father? Under existing welfare rules, a teenage girl who becomes pregnant can make herself eligible for welfare benefits that will set her up in an apartment of her own, provide medical care, and feed and clothe her. She only has to fulfill one condition—not marry or identify the father."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: February 15, 1986
Skittle
_Surface forms_: Skittle; Skittles
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Muslim person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a Muslim person
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230102220232/https://twitter.com/InaneImperium/status/788368118187864064))\ \ "Pronoun-perversity is a particularly nasty form of class warfare & turned me harder against the left than googles/skypes/skittles combined "\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 18, 2016
Skype
_Surface forms_: Skype; Skypes
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: phonetic-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a Jewish person
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230102220335/https://twitter.com/NegativeDyllan/status/782669950955630592))\ \ "(((skypes))) using googles as a weapon"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 2, 2016
snowflake
_Surface forms_: snowflake; snowflakes
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: liberals\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ While [snowflake] has more recently made it into mainstream discourse, in our sample of tweets was used it derisively refer to liberal students on college campuses. These included students from the LGBTQ community and minorities whom the white supremacists viewed as being anti-Trump, anti-Republican, sulky, and juvenile individuals (Roy, 2016)
Example context (in [_Speech at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220518205558/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/scott-walker-cpac-america-under-siege-campuses-culture))\ \ "Half of all the liberal students say it's OK to infringe upon the free speech rights of other students because they offend others. Apparently, they offend anybody except for conservatives. Let's be clear, young people did not learn this on their own, years of left-wing professors and increasingly large numbers of radical activists on campus have shaped a new generation of snowflakes"\ \ _Speaker_: Scott Walker (former Wisconsin governor)\ _Date_: February 26, 2021
social justice warrior
_Surface forms_: social justice warrior; social justice warriors; SJW; SJWs
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: liberals\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ While [SJW] has recently made it into the mainstream lexicon, during the 2016 presidential election its usage was far less widespread. The term was utilized to refer to individuals who are generally liberal and are interested in engaging in arguments on social-justice-related topics on the Internet. According to the white supremacist ideology, such individuals use political correctness and virtue signaling to tarnish others with allegations of racism, sexism, and hate speech (Roy, 2016)
Example context (in [_Speech at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)_](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/tom-cotton-2021-cpac-speech-transcript-february-26))\ \ "I wrote an op-ed in the New York Times. It had a very simple message, very simple, common sense message grounded in American history and law, supported by a majority of Americans, arguing very simply if the police cannot, or especially if they are not allowed to, restore order, then it is time to send in the troops. And what happened next? Total meltdown with the little social justice warriors at the New York Times. All these children that have been marinated in the language of the campus seminar room. They said things like, “Your words put my life at risk,” as if typing on their phone, sitting on their futons was as dangerous as being a cop trying to stop rioters in the streets. Or, “Your words are violence.” Now, I’m sorry, Kiddo. Words are words. Violence is what your friends are doing out on the streets of America."\ \ _Speaker_: Tom Cotton (Arkansas senator)\ _Date_: February 26, 2021
Sonnenrad
_Surface forms_: ☸️; Sonnenrad; Sunwheel; Black Sun; Sonnenrad emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/sonnenrad))\ \ The sonnenrad or sunwheel is one of a number of ancient European symbols appropriated by the Nazis in their attempt to invent an idealized "Aryan/Norse" heritage. The sonnenrad appears in the traditional symbology of many countries and cultures, including Old Norse and Celtic cultures. It has countless variations; the swastika and similar rounded variants are actually sonnenrad forms, as are certain versions of the Celtic Cross. In Nazi Germany, the Nazi Party, the SA and the SS all used sonnenrad symbology at times, which has led neo-Nazis and other modern white supremacists to adopt such images. One sonnenrad version in particular is popular among white supremacists: two concentric circles with crooked rays emanating from the inner circle to the outer circle. Often white supremacists will put another hate symbol such as a swastika in the center of the inner circle.Because sonnenrad imagery is used by many cultures around the world, one should not assume that most sonnenrad-like images necessarily denote racism or white supremacy; rather, they should be analyzed carefully in the context in which they appear.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/ChrisTussVictor/status/1595611478949875712))\ \ "Emma is right. It’s an aspect of “White culture” & one day…we will reclaim it! ☀️💯⚡️☸️👌🏻☀️☮️"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 23, 2022
soy boy
_Surface forms_: soy boy; soy; soyboi; soybois; soy boys
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: liberal or establishment Republican men\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ "Soy boy" was another term that was widely used to insult and humiliate along the lines of "cuck". A code word for males who lacked masculine qualities (Henderson, 2018), the phrase originated from the idea that those who consume dairy-free milk were weak and effeminate (Varis, 2018).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220713165446/https://twitter.com/RubinReport/status/1528919709671989248))\ \ "Everyone hates you and that’s why you shut your replies on all your tweets, you megalomaniacal soy boy weirdo. [Quote tweet of Bill Gates] "\ \ _Speaker_: Dave Rubin (political commentator and YouTuber)\ _Date_: May 23, 2022
special interests
_Surface forms_: special interest; special interests; global special interest; global special interests
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish interests\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](http://contemporaryrhetoric.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Moshin8_1_2_3.pdf))\ \ The ad spotlights Clinton aiding and abetting the “global special interests” who “control the levers of power” and “don’t have your good in mind.” It continues, “It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.”90 Accompanying each of these key phrases are images of Janet Yellen (Chair of the Federal Reserve), George Soros (investor/philanthropist), and Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs CEO)—all of whom are Jewish, and who would likely not appear otherwise. These phrases/images are all dog-whistles, steeped in the echoes of history. The notion that Jews are nomadic vampires (literally and figuratively) endlessly wandering in search of global control, puppet masters whose hands control the strings of media and finance, is archaic. These discourses have played major roles in Jewish persecution, from the time of Hellenization through to the Holocaust
Example context (in [_Campaign Ad_](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/11/is-donald-trumps-closing-campaign-ad-anti-semitic.html))\ \ "The Establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. For those who control the levers of power in Washington and for the global special interests, they partner with these people who don’t have your good in mind"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: June 6, 2016
spiderweb emoji
_Surface forms_: 🕸️; spiderweb emoji
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal, especially to indicate membership in a transphobic social network\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Another dog whistle used by TERFs in their bios or names on Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media sites. It specifically indicates that the user is a member of Spinster.xyz, a "women-first social network" better understood as the TERF version of Gab.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/ShannonMeridian/status/1515910787843436554))\ \ "haven't been able to be completely entertained in many months. today I watched Black Widow and sat in awe the entire time. it felt so good to get out of my head. 🕸️♀️ 💚🤍💜"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: April 17, 2022
SPQR
_Surface forms_: SPQR
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal based on phrase associated with Roman Empire\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ SPQR is an abbreviation for the Latin Senātus Populusque Rōmānus, or "the Senate and People of Rome", one of the phrases associated with the Roman Republic and the Empire. It was mostly associated with the civic sphere, as it mentions, well, the Roman Senate and people. However, in the grand tradition of fascists taking things and ruining them for everyone, the alt-right has begun using the slogan and associated banners due to a misconception of its association with the Roman military, as well as its use by (who else?) Benito Mussolini.The irony of a motto traditionally used to denote a (semi-) democratic republic being used by fascists is, sadly, lost on most people.
Example context (in [_Wikipedia Page_](http://web.archive.org/web/20201101021853/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Cawthorn#Business))\ \ "Cawthorn is the owner of SPQR Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment firm in Hendersonville. The firm was created in August 2019 and reported no income; he is its sole employee. The acronym "has been embraced by skinhead gangs in Italy and by some white nationalists in the United States." It is common on flags used by white supremacists, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center."\ \ _Speaker_: Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina Representative) owns SPQR Holdings; text from Wikipedia\ _Date_: November 1, 2022 (first capture mentioning business)
Staniland question
_Surface forms_: Staniland question
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are predators\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A loaded question posed by Helen Staniland in early 2021 shortly before her Twitter suspension: "Do you believe that male-bodied people with a penis should have the right to undress in front of women and young girls?" No one in the trans-rights movement has actually advocated exposing kids to naked adults. But TERFs have started routinely demanding that they answer the "Staniland Question". The question is a blatant example of the age-old demonization of LGBT people as dangerous predators. It also assumes that trans-rights supporters might not object to communal changing spaces for different reasons (e.g. privacy and body shaming).
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210406084933/https://twitter.com/EmmaBatemanGPW/status/1343672706164809729))\ \ "There are women in the Green Party fighting for women's rights. Sadly, not among the leadership who all repeat the TWAW mantra I am also the CoChair of Green Party Women. Sex is real Biology matters, People cannot change sex The answer to the Staniland question is NO"\ \ _Speaker_: Emma Bateman (Former Co-chair of Green Party Women in the UK) \ _Date_: December 28, 2020
states' rights
_Surface forms_: states' rights
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Racial segregation\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/8-sneaky-racial-code-words-and-why-politicians-love-the-1790874941))\ \ Totally innocent and nonracial, right? Not so much. López says we first heard this from Barry Goldwater, who was running on a very unpopular platform critical of the New Deal, during the 1964 presidential election. "He makes the critical decision to use coded racial appeals, trying to take advantage of rising racial anxiety in the face of the civil rights movement," says López. In other words, while "states' rights" is a pretty racially neutral issue, you just have to look at what was happening at the moment to realize that everyone knew it translated to the right of states to resist federal mandates to integrate schools and society.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech at the Neshoba County Fair, Mississippi_](http://web.archive.org/web/20221107182437/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan's_Neshoba_County_Fair_%22states'_rights%22_speech))\ \ "I still believe the answer to any problem lies with the people. I believe in states' rights. I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the community level and at the private level, and I believe we've distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended in the Constitution to that federal establishment. "\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: August 3, 1980
steroids
_Surface forms_: steroids
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans people are drug abusers\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A term used for hormone therapy taken by trans people (since steroids feminize a male body and vice versa), to make it sound like trans people are drug abusers and / or cheating in sports.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230103010903/https://twitter.com/kwilli1046/status/1005391515303202816))\ \ "TRANSGENDER BOYS DOMINATE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS AT STATE TRACK MEET... In professional sports, performance enhancing drugs are illegal. Lets be serious, a transgender boy is like a girl on steroids and should be banned... Don't you think?"\ \ _Speaker_: Kevin Williams (Podcaster)\ _Date_: June 9, 2018
strapping young buck
_Surface forms_: strapping young buck; buck; young buck
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: young Black man\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ The epithet "buck" has long been used to conjure the threatening image of a physically powerful black man often one who defies white authority and who lusts for white women.
Example context (in [_Campaign speech in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida_](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1976/02/05/75572411.html?pageNumber=24))\ \ "Working people were outraged when they waited in lines at grocery store check-out counters while a strapping young buck ahead of them purchased T-bone steaks with food stamps."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: February 4, 1976
string puller
_Surface forms_: string puller; string pullers; string-puller; string-pullers
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people who control the world\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://politicalresearch.org/2018/01/12/steve-bannons-washed-out-antisemitism))\ \ Endless Breitbart articles decry the “globalist elites” and “globalism,” and in one particularly pointed statement, Bannon decries the “establishment, globalist clique.” Numerous articles target liberal financier George Soros, who is described using traditional antisemitic imagery at least twice: one article calls him the “Puppet Master,” and a Breitbart Tweet says he is “Like an octopus.” “Cultural Marxism” is a frequent target; this narrative emerged as a form of coded antisemitism where the Frankfurt School philosophers, who were largely Jewish, were accused of being the cause of all the social ills that antisemites usually blame “the Jews” for. Terms like the “coastal elite,” “puppet masters,” “string pullers,” “banksters,” and the “octopus”—all of which have been used as antisemitic code words—are frequently trotted out. So are institutions which antisemites frequently target as the mechanisms of Jewish control, including the Federal Reserve and Trilateral Commission.
Example context (in [_Breitbart Article_](https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2011/11/15/occupy-nancy-pelosi-the-real-one-percent-is-americas-political-class/ ))\ \ "The Political Class live in a world of wealth and power, and they don’t play by the same rules that you and I do. The Political Class operates above the law – literally, above it and lording over it. Since they make the laws, they can rewrite them to suit themselves. They pull the strings on the mainstream press establishment by playing games with information and power. As a result, the Political Class has been able to line its own pockets while much of the economy has gone to shambles."\ \ _Speaker_: Lee Stranahan (writer for Breitbart)\ _Date_: November 15, 2011
suffragette flag emojis
_Surface forms_: 🟪⬜🟩; 🟩⬜🟪; 💚🤍💜; 💜🤍💚; 💜🤍💛; 💛🤍💜; suffragette flag emojis; green white and purple emojis
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Transphobic signal that appropriates women's suffrage flag colors\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Another emoji-based dog whistle used by TERFS on social media. Used primarily by UK-based TERFs, it seems to have emerged in the first half of 2021, and has largely replaced the chequered flag and red square. The colour scheme is based on the historical tri-color used by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), an organization that campaigned for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. This is yet another example of TERFs trying to cast themselves as the political successors of suffragettes...A variation using three heart emojis (💜🤍💚) is also sometimes used, as well as variations without the white (e.g. 🟪🟩🟪🟩). Some people use different emojis with similar colors to refer to the same thing, instead of explicitly using square or heart emojis. TERFs in North America sometimes use purple/white/yellow variants (e.g. 💜🤍💛). This is the color scheme historically used by the American suffragette movement.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary#/media/File:Jkrdogwhistletweet.png))\ \ "And together, we will win 💜🤍💚"\ \ _Speaker_: J.K. Rowling\ _Date_: July 18, 2021
superpredators
_Surface forms_: superpredator; superpredators; super predator; super predators
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black men are threatening\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/for-the-record-superpredators-is-absolutely-a-racist-t-1790857020))\ \ The term “superpredator” is absolutely a racist term that was specifically deployed to stereotype and target black children in the 1990s with the intention of locking them up to protect terrified white people from “bad [black] dudes.” John DiIulio Jr., a former aide to President George W. Bush and currently a professor of politics, religion and civil society at the University of Pennsylvania, is the man who coined the term “superpredator” in 1995. In a piece titled, “The Coming of the Super-Predator,” written in November of that year, he wrote: "There is even some evidence that juveniles are doing homicidal violence in “wolf packs.” Indeed, a 1993 study found that juveniles committed about a third of all homicides against strangers, often murdering their victim in groups of two or more. Violent youth crime, like all serious crime, is pre-dominantly intra-racial, not interfacial. The surge in violent youth crime has been most acute among black inner-city males. While the trouble will be greatest in black inner-city neighborhoods, other places are also certain to have burgeoning youth-crime problems that will spill over into upscale central-city districts, inner-ring suburbs, and even the rural heartland."
Example context (in [_Speech in support of Bill Clinton in New Hampshire_](https://www.c-span.org/video/?69606-1/hillary-clinton-campaign-speech))\ \ "Just as in a previous generation we had an organized effort against the mob. We need to take these people on. They are often connected to big drug cartels, they are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called superpredators—no conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first, we have to bring them to heel."\ \ _Speaker_: Hillary Clinton\ _Date_: January 25, 1996
surgical wound
_Surface forms_: surgical wound; surgical wounds; surgical cavity
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans woman's neovagina\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Offensive TERF term for a trans woman's neovagina.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230103021706/https://twitter.com/pearlredmoon/status/1607681111592927232))\ \ "When men who say they are women have their penises inverted and a blind cavity engineered into their perineum why do women have to tolerate this surgical wound being described as a “vagina”? We should protest it is deeply insulting and misogynistic"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 27, 2022
SWPL
_Surface forms_: SWPL
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Politically progressive white person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Derived from the name of the satirical blog Stuff White People Like , a SWPL is an affluent, well-educated white person who's politically progressive, i.e. a virtue signalling cuck.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230103022835/https://twitter.com/bronzeagemantis/status/972682152130351114))\ \ "Paglia has long made fun of fem*nists who claim to be independent but are oblivious to the working class men who keep their streets well-lit, clean, safe, without who they'd be helpless. Position of globalist SWPL's is the same though: conceited, snarky, but dependent..."\ \ _Speaker_: Bronze Age Pervert (author and podcaster)\ _Date_: March 10, 2018
take back
_Surface forms_: take back; take back our country; take our country back
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Give white Americans back full social and political control over the country\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jefferson-street/articles/2017-08-17/be-aware-of-these-extreme-right-dog-whistles-after-charlottesville))\ \ You hear this in Charlottesville and read it on extreme right protesters' posters as a rallying cry or a command. The agitators claim they must "take America back from …" or "rescue society from …" but the natural follow up question would be "take back from whom?" And the answer is where the euphemisms stop and their dark truth emerges.
Example context (in [_Campaign speech in Arizona_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-tells-supporters-we-need-to-take-back-the-heart-of-our-country/2015/07/11/066aecf2-27dd-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html))\ \ "I wonder if the Mexican government sent him over here. Don't worry, we'll take our country back...The silent majority is back, and we're going to take the country back...we have to take back the heart of our country"\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: July 11, 2015
the goyim know
_Surface forms_: the goyim know; the goyim know shut it down; shut it down; da goyim know
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ "The Goyim Know,” sometimes followed by “Shut It Down,” is a popular antisemitic meme based on conspiracy theories of manipulative Jews with plans of world domination and in control of the media, economy, and governments. Typically paired with offensive images of a stereotypical Jew talking on a phone or holding a shocked expression, this meme is widely used by white supremacists and other antisemites—on sites like 4chan and 8kun (formerly 8chan)—to mock a panicked Jew whose secret plot or manipulations have been revealed by non-Jewish people, or goyim. While “goyim” is a term used by some Jews to refer to nonJews, antisemites and white supremacists have weaponized the word to mock and accuse Jews of promoting a prejudiced support for their own clan. As it spread online, “The Goyim Know” also made its way offline through an antisemitic song parody by the same name, as well as the phrase appearing on signs during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Other manifestations of the far-right using “Goyim” to mock Jews are the Goyim Defense League (GDL) and GoyimTV.com.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20200623010317/https://twitter.com/Know_More_News/status/1275232843635945473))\ \ "THE GOYIM KNOW GREENBLATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [Quote tweet of ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt]"\ \ _Speaker_: Adam Green (Youtuber)\ _Date_: June 22, 2020
thin blue line
_Surface forms_: thin blue line; thin blue line flag
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Protect white people from non-white people\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://hyperallergic.com/603860/watching-whiteness-shift-to-blue-via-nationalist-aesthetics/))\ \ Whiteness has changed. It is becoming blue. The white-to-blue shift moves the axis of personal and political identity from ancestry to affiliation with law enforcement. To be “white” is now to accept and endorse the absolute necropolitical (the power to administer death) authority of police. To be “blue” is to bring together all the tangled desires and frustrations connoted by whiteness into a spatialized subjugation to police authority. The resulting form of identification is a new form of nationalism. It has flags; it demands violence; and it exults in its own presumed superiority. This shift was visibly evident in the performance of the presidential election campaign by Trump’s followers, with their trucks, flags, guns, and banners. Since the challenge to segregation in the 1950s, policing has presented itself as a “thin blue line” against disorder — a dog-whistle connecting the Civil Rights Movement to the mobility of Black people and white fears about the loss of a permanent, racialized social hierarchy. The repeated descriptions of US cities where protests were organized against police violence as “anarchist” this summer and autumn followed that logic. Unspoken but understood is that the areas which the blue line protects are white spaces: the largely segregated regions where white people mostly live.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220720131302/https://twitter.com/GovLarryHogan/status/1191095631424753664))\ \ "We are proud to hang these Thin Blue Line flags in Government House to honor our brave law enforcement officers. A local elected official prohibiting police from displaying a flag given to them by a grateful child is disgraceful."\ \ _Speaker_: Larry Hogan (Maryland Governor)\ _Date_: November 3, 2019
Three Percenters
_Surface forms_: Three Percenters; 3%ers; III%ers
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Far-right militia movement\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Three Percenters (also 3%ers or III%ers) are a far-right militia movement. Their name derives from the erroneous idea that 3% of the population of able-bodied men of the 13 colonies fought against the British Empire during the American Revolution; the actual percentage was closer to 15%. Three Percenters are part of the alt-right by dint of their having provided 'security' at the 2017 Unite the Right rally.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230103034020/https://twitter.com/RogerMathewsNJ/status/476868447893467136))\ \ "Started my back piece today. New school Americana. III %er all day. [shared photo of back tattoo]"\ \ _Speaker_: Roger Mathews (TV personality and Youtuber\ _Date_: June 11, 2014
three strikes laws
_Surface forms_: three strikes; three strikes laws; three strikes policies; three strikes policy; three strikes law
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Mass incarceration of Black people\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ "Three strikes" laws, rounding up all those uppity negroes 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 prisons. Using capital punishment despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Example context (in [_Radio address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-radio-address-357))\ \ "I want 100,000 more police officers for community policing. The House voted for 50,000 but that's not enough. As we've seen in cities from Los Angeles to Houston, putting more officers on the street, working with people in their communities prevents crime and lowers the crime rate. I want the House to join the Senate to ban the weapons of war that plague our streets: assault weapons. I want both Houses to tailor a provision to put away repeat violent offenders and put them away for good, "three strikes and they're out.""\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Clinton\ _Date_: April 23, 1994
thug
_Surface forms_: thug; thugs
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black men are criminals or violent\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10889138/coded-language-thug-bossy))\ \ By its technical definition, "thug" is supposed to refer to a violent person or a criminal. But over time, it has been used so often to refer to black people that it began to carry its own connotation — the racist idea that black people are criminals or violent. Take, for instance, the Baltimore protests. Were all the protesters in Baltimore, who were demonstrating against Freddie Gray's death in the hands of police, rioting and looting? No, but they were broadly labeled as such, even by the mayor and the president. In comparison, one does not see the same kind of labeling with white rioters, which media outlets like CNN have labeled as, for example, "rowdy" in past instances. As these kinds of contrasts present themselves in media, it becomes clear that the word "thug" is used to describe not merely criminal or violent behavior, but behavior from black men in particular.
Example context (in [_Joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Abe_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-with-prime-minister-shinzo-abe-japan-0))\ \ "That is not a protest. That is not a statement. It’s people -- a handful of people taking advantage of a situation for their own purposes, and they need to be treated as criminals...My understanding is, is you’ve got some of the same organizers now going back into these communities to try to clean up in the aftermath of a handful of criminals and thugs who tore up the place. What they were doing, what those community leaders and clergy and others were doing, that is a statement. That’s the kind of organizing that needs to take place if we’re going to tackle this problem."\ \ _Speaker_: Barack Obama\ _Date_: April 28, 2015
tiny minority of men
_Surface forms_: tiny minority of men; fraction of the patriarchy
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans women\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A way TERFs describe trans women, in order to claim that they are being silenced by a "fraction of the patriarchy"
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220309080810/https://twitter.com/sueveneer/status/1501469847829557248))\ \ "It's astonishing to me that "woman" is being redefined because a tiny minority of men wish to be included in that definition. And @AnnelieseDodds is left unable to articulate what she and half of the population are. Astonishing"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: March 9, 2022
tough on crime
_Surface forms_: tough on crime
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Mass incarceration of Black and Latinx people \ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/05/politicians-racial-dog-whistles/))\ \ Saying “tough on crime” is pretty similar to saying “law and order.” Politicians who use it promise that they’ll enact policies that make the United States safer to live in. In theory, this should work for everyone – who wants to live somewhere that lets bad criminals go? “Tough on crime” is primarily used as a code for “tough on Black and Latinx people, who are dangerous!” Tough-on-crime politicians are generally always in support of increased police presence and harsh punitive measures for “non-violent” crimes, which have historically not only put people of color in jails, but in many cases, have caused their murders at the hands of the police. Bill Clinton’s “tough on crime” speeches during his presidential campaigns in the 1990s were used to sway white voters toward the “New Democrats.” Unlike previous Democrats, Clinton’s campaign promises leaned more to the right and included his support for things, such as supporting the death penalty and increased welfare restrictions. Clinton spoke about how it was important to crack down on “inner city” criminals in order to make the country safer. He later created policies such as the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which expanded measures that doled out harsh sentences. Among other things, it increased funding for prisons and implemented a “three strikes” mandatory life sentence policy that locked up many Black and Latinx for minor offenses. The policies that Clinton enacted negatively impacted Black communities and played a key role in molding mass incarceration as we know it today. Civil rights lawyer and advocate Michelle Alexander explains in The New Jim Crow, “once again…a new system of racialized social control was created by exploiting the vulnerabilities and racial resentments of poor and working-class whites.” Today, Black people are incarcerated 5.1 times the rate of white people, according to a report by The Sentencing Project.
Example context (in [_Campaign speech_](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/24/us/1992-campaign-democrats-clinton-houston-speech-assails-bush-crime-issue.html))\ \ "We cannot take our country back until we take our neighborhoods back. Four years ago this crime issue was used to divide America. I want to use it to unite America. I want to be tough on crime and good for civil rights. You can't have civil justice without order and safety."\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Clinton\ _Date_: 7/23/1992
Trans Identified Female
_Surface forms_: TIF; Trans Identified Female; TIFs; Trans Identified Females; trans-identified female; trans-identified females
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans man\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Terms used to misgender trans women (TIM) and men (TIF), while at the same time also denying that they are trans (which is not a real thing, according to TERFs), through the now turned-into-dogwhistle "identify as" expression. They are also used because they don't contain the letters of the elective gender (unlike mtF, ftM), and because they are typically masculine (Tim/Timothy) or feminine (Tiffany) names.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230103034933/https://twitter.com/pink_carbonunit/status/1607860807873732611))\ \ "The fragility of a TIF🧵 Back in November I took a trip to Brighton. Casually chatting to a groups of creatives at a bar , a trans identified female made a statement to the whole group entirely out of the blue. ‘Ahem, my NEW name is Jethro’."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 27, 2022
Trans Identified Male
_Surface forms_: TIM; Trans Identified Male; TIMs; Trans Identified Males; trans-identified male; trans-identified males
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans woman\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Terms used to misgender trans women (TIM) and men (TIF), while at the same time also denying that they are trans (which is not a real thing, according to TERFs), through the now turned-into-dogwhistle "identify as" expression. They are also used because they don't contain the letters of the elective gender (unlike mtF, ftM), and because they are typically masculine (Tim/Timothy) or feminine (Tiffany) names.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230103040153/https://twitter.com/salltweets/status/1587762991289683968))\ \ "Trans identified males are a demographic of men not a demographic of women and should be welcomed, accepted & safe into male spaces."\ \ _Speaker_: Sall Grover (Founder and CEO of Giggle, a female-only social network)\ _Date_: November 2, 2022
TRAs
_Surface forms_: trans-rights activist; trans-rights activists; trans rights activist; trans rights activists; TRA; TRAs; trans activist; trans activists
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: person who supports the transgender rights movement\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A person who supports the transgender rights movement. TERFs pretty much use this term indiscriminately. In TERF logic, one is a "TRA" whether one occasionally expresses support for trans rights or whether one has devoted one's life and/or social media presence to the cause. The acronym was deliberately chosen to sound like "MRA" in an attempt to draw a false equivalence between trans-rights activism and the genuinely misogynistic and anti-feminist men's rights movement.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://web.archive.org/web/20230103154834/https://twitter.com/salltweets/status/1608945002318819330))\ \ "Every day more women are joining the fight for women’s rights, a reality it seems the TRAs never really planned for. But women of every political affiliation, religion, race & culture care about our own rights & every single one of us deserves them. Here’s to winning in 2023 💗"\ \ _Speaker_: Sall Grover (Founder and CEO of Giggle, a female-only social network)\ _Date_: December 30, 2022
Trilateral Commission
_Surface forms_: Trilateral Commission
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Institution by which Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://politicalresearch.org/2018/01/12/steve-bannons-washed-out-antisemitism))\ \ Endless Breitbart articles decry the “globalist elites” and “globalism,” and in one particularly pointed statement, Bannon decries the “establishment, globalist clique.” Numerous articles target liberal financier George Soros, who is described using traditional antisemitic imagery at least twice: one article calls him the “Puppet Master,” and a Breitbart Tweet says he is “Like an octopus.” “Cultural Marxism” is a frequent target; this narrative emerged as a form of coded antisemitism where the Frankfurt School philosophers, who were largely Jewish, were accused of being the cause of all the social ills that antisemites usually blame “the Jews” for. Terms like the “coastal elite,” “puppet masters,” “string pullers,” “banksters,” and the “octopus”—all of which have been used as antisemitic code words—are frequently trotted out. So are institutions which antisemites frequently target as the mechanisms of Jewish control, including the Federal Reserve and Trilateral Commission.
Example context (in [_Opinion article for Breitbart_](https://web.archive.org/web/20220922020724/https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/12/14/democracy-is-dead-in-the-uk-and-everywhere/))\ \ "It helps explain why whichever party you vote for you invariably end up with the same policies. In the UK, for example, Labour Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer is a member of the Trilateral Commission, one of those shadowy supranational organisations pushing toward the same goals — ‘sustainability’ (a cosy codeword for eco-fascism), biosecurity, Central Bank Digital Currencies, etc — currently being chased by Boris Johnson and leaders around the world. Whether you vote Labour or Conservative makes zero difference: you always get the same Uniparty."\ \ _Speaker_: James Delingpole (writer)\ _Date_: December 14, 2021
triple parentheses
_Surface forms_: triple parentheses; triple brackets; echo; ((())); the echo sign; (((echo)))
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Symbol used to identify and harass Jewish people online\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf))\ \ The (((echo))) is part of the coded antisemitism that occurs online. Used by antisemites, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists, the triple parentheses are applied to Jewish names or topics to identify, mock, and harass Jews in a way that is difficult to find in search engines, yet hiding in plain sight. While it originated on an antisemitic blog, the (((echo))) went mainstream with the creation of a now-removed Chrome extension—called "Coincidence Detector"—that placed three sets of parentheses around the names of Jewish individuals, of which there were over 8,000 listed. This symbol has opened yet another avenue for Jews to be targeted with antisemitic messages and even death threats— but it’s also given some Twitter users a chance to fight back by placing parentheses around their names in an act of solidarity spearheaded by Yair Rosenberg
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/echo))\ \ "Some (((narratives))) are on the way out. #Holahoax"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: September 2016
troon
_Surface forms_: troon; troons
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A slur for transgender people, usually trans women, used as an alternative to “tranny” that’s less likely to result in a ban on social media. It was allegedly a portmanteau of 'transgender' and 'goon', originating from Something Awful, and now common at Kiwi Farms. 'Troon' is a legitimate place name in Scotland (it's a town on the Ayrshire coast), so check context, but be wary of Scottish TERF usage, e.g. unfunny wordplay on the double-meaning.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230103160528/https://twitter.com/pinewalker_/status/1608490458174623744))\ \ "Someone needs to write a really in-depth explanation of how people get groomed into being troons. Full specifics - how reddit and discord play in, common avenues of introduction, etc. Something you can show to a parent that tells everything."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 29, 2022
two lightning bolt emojis
_Surface forms_: ⚡⚡; doubled lightning emoji; two lightning bolt emojis
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist symbol representing the insignia of the Nazi SS\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ The doubled ⚡, to the alt-right, does not represent two ordinary lightning bolts, but the insignia of the Nazi SS, the SS bolts. To obfuscate its true meaning to those not in the know, the two emoji may be placed on either side of a name, word or phrase.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/880EchoPapa/status/1207530027857956866))\ \ "Wait! What? You just sealed the deal. Enjoy 5 more years of MAGA 🤣🤣🤣 ⚡👊⚡ ⚡👊⚡"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: December 19, 2019
uterus-haver
_Surface forms_: uterus-haver; uterus-havers; uterus haver; vagina haver; front holer
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Either trans women are not women because they don't have a uterus, or that trans people are trying to reduce cis women to reproductive organs\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ "Uterus-haver" has at least two different meanings: A term used by TERFs on social media to suggest that trans women are not women because they don't have a uterus.[78] Bafflingly, this term also suggests that cis women who have had a hysterectomy are not women either. Alternately, the term can be used to claim that trans women are really sexist men who want to steal the word "woman" for themselves, and re-brand cis women as "uterus-havers" or other terms that reduce them to their reproductive organs. Variants of the term such as "vagina haver" and "front holer" also exist.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220604034111/https://twitter.com/ZubyMusic/status/1502405201080291328))\ \ "t's interesting how so many liberals are cool with the fact there is an entire movement that is essentially trying to erase/redefine women, or reduce them to 'birthing persons', 'vagina owners', and 'uterus havers'. I don't know a single conservative who is OK with this. 🤣"\ \ _Speaker_: Zuby (musician and podcaster)\ _Date_: March 11, 2022
vaccine safety
_Surface forms_: vaccine safety; pro-vaccine safety; safe-vaxx
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-vax\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Opposition to vaccines\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ Many 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 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 Jews are persecuted during the Holocaust.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220420192858/https://twitter.com/marwilliamson/status/1203800813744857088))\ \ "Vaccines save lives absolutely. But asking for an independent commission to review vaccine safety is not “anti-vaxx.” It’s “safe-vaxx,” which is totally understandable given over $4B paid in vaccine injury claims. Why are so many people so invested in protecting Big Pharma? Odd."\ \ _Speaker_: Marianne Williamson (author, activist, 2020 presidential primary candidate)\ _Date_: December 8, 2019
vegan cat
_Surface forms_: vegan cat
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Trans children were brainwashed by their parents\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ A TERF meme along the lines of "a trans child is like a vegan cat: we know who made that decision, and it wasn't the cat." Implying that trans children have actually just been brainwashed by their parents, and allowing a child to transition is harmful/a form of abuse (just like trying to force a cat to eat a vegan diet, which their bodies aren't designed for.) Variants of this have also been used by non-TERFs.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220830035407/https://twitter.com/MsBlaireWhite/status/1506023970792955913))\ \ "A transgender 4 year old is like a vegan cat. We all know who's making the lifestyle choices."\ \ _Speaker_: Blaire White (Youtuber and podcaster)\ _Date_: March 21, 2022
Vinland
_Surface forms_: Vinland
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: White supremacist signal referencing short-lived Viking settlement in North America\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_7))\ \ The notion of "Vinland" asserts white supremacists' historical claim over North America (most likely Eastern Canada), and helpts to position themselves as defenders in the battles of race, religion, and civilization (Weber, 2018). References to this short-lived Viking settlement appear to have provided them a chance to reenact the imagined glory of their presumed ancestors.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220517003435/https://twitter.com/Gangdraupne/status/1526360445233381376))\ \ "Wrong. I will sail my viking ship to Vinland and help my patriot friends! From Norway."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 16, 2022
voter fraud
_Surface forms_: voter fraud; voting fraud; fraudulent voting
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Disenfranchisement of minority voters\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Code_word ))\ \ "Voter fraud" is often used by Republicans to refer to minority voters, who predominately vote Democratic, to give justification for 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.
Example context (in [_Campaign speech in Colorado_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-norris-penrose-event-center-colorado-springs-colorado))\ \ "Get out and vote. But they even want to try and rig the election at the polling booths where so many cities are corrupt. And you see that. And voter fraud is all too common. And then they criticize us for saying that. And we have even Republicans, "Oh, that's such a terrible thing to say." Well, take a look at Philadelphia, what's been going on. Take a look at Chicago, take a look at St. Louis. Take a look at some of these cities where you see things happening that are horrendous. And if you talk about them, they say bad things about you. They call you a racist. They call you all—and by the way, speaking of that, nobody will do more for the African-American citizens of this country than Donald Trump, nobody, nobody. Nobody will do more for the Latino community than Donald Trump, I can tell you."\ \ _Speaker_: Donald Trump\ _Date_: October 18, 2016
war on Christmas
_Surface forms_: war on Christmas
_Persona/In-Group_: conservative\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: America is a country for white Christians and only white Christians\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.newsweek.com/how-trump-nazis-stole-christmas-promote-white-nationalism-755991))\ \ Many of Trump's Christian supporters argue that the president is ending the so-called war on Christmas, which has been presented by evangelicals and Fox news anchors as a threat to America's Christian culture. Trump supporters say Americans have become too politically correct when they wish people happy holidays, a neutral term that can be used for people who celebrate Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha or any other religious holiday that takes place around the same time as Christmas. But critics counter that Trump is promoting a version of the holidays that excludes members of other religions, and that his crusade to bring back Christmas is part of a larger attempt by the president to define America as a country for white Christians alone. "I see such invocations of Christmas as a kind of cypher, what some would call a dog whistle. It does not appear to be intolerant or extreme, but to attentive audiences it speaks volumes about identity and belonging—who and what are fully American," Richard King, a professor at Washington State University who studies how white supremacists exploit culture, told Newsweek.
Example context (in [_Press Release_](https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/andrew-j-lanza/senator-andrew-lanza-denounces-american-atheists%E2%80%99-hateful))\ \ "“It is our solemn responsibility as Americans to defend each other’s right to believe in God or not, however, I denounce this organization’s lack of decency, civility and kindness to people of faith as expressed on these billboard messages. It seems to me that this is part of a continued “War on Christmas” and also upon the belief and value system of millions of Christian, Jewish and Muslim people who have faith in God. Religious persecution of the kind that similarly lead to the Holocaust began with small baby steps of ridicule and hatred of the religious beliefs of others. The same would be true of expressions of hatred levied upon others because they do not believe."\ \ _Speaker_: Andrew Lanza (New York State Senator)\ _Date_: December 13, 2013
war on crime
_Surface forms_: war on crime
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: mass incarceration and disenfranchisement of racial minorities, particularly Black men\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ Clinton also seemed to be listening to Thomas and Mary Edsall, whose book Chain Reaction came out in 1991. As the authors of the most comprehensive critique of the Southern strategy to date, the Edsalls regarded further racial backlash as virtually inevitable unless the Democrats distanced themselves from African Americans and recalibrated their politics to endorse limiting welfare and ratcheting up the war on crime…Clinton’s pandering to dog whistle sensibilities extended well beyond the campaign trail. As president he endorsed a federal Three Strikes law dramatically expanding the nation’s incarcerated population; he funneled a further $30 billion into Reagan’s “war on crime”; and he vastly increased the number of federal offenses subject to capital punishment… Many states still have on the books laws of convict leasing that strip convicted felons of the right to vote. Far from becoming outdated and ineffective in reducing nonwhite voting power, the modern war on crime dramatically increased the disempowering impact of such laws. A 2008 report from the Brennan Center for Justice warned that because of felon disenfranchisement laws, “three in ten of the next generation of African-American men can expect to lose the right to vote at some point in their lifetime”.
Example context (in [_Campaign Speech_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/campaign-statement-about-crime-and-drug-abuse))\ \ "My goal for the next 4 years is for every American city to begin realizing the kind of victories in the war on crime which we have already achieved in the Nation's Capital--where the crime rate has been cut in half since my Administration took office, and where heroin overdose deaths have almost disappeared. This kind of progress can and must be made all across America. By winning the war on crime and drugs, we can restore the social climate of order and justice which will assure our society of the freedom it must have to build and grow."\ \ _Speaker_: Richard Nixon\ _Date_: October 28, 1972
war on drugs
_Surface forms_: war on drugs
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Harsh punishments for Black people who use drugs, but not for white people\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.theroot.com/the-top-10-racist-dog-whistles-hidden-in-trumps-state-o-1822600239))\ \ "My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need. The struggle will be long and difficult—but, as Americans always do, we will prevail." [Trump, State of The Union] Conversely, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in his war on drugs 2.0, still seeks to lock up people who smoke weed and throw away the previous administration’s policy of not seeking mandatory minimums. Most researchers agree that treatment is the best way to combat illegal drug use, but apparently, the Trump administration only wants to utilize that for opioid addiction. The cure for the drug problem in the black community? Jail
Example context (in [_Radio Address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/radio-address-the-nation-economic-growth-and-the-war-drugs))\ \ "Now, I'd like to turn to another subject: the war on drugs. I want all Americans to take heart. This war is not yet won, not by a long shot. But we're doing better, and our nation is united against this scourge as never before. Right now there's a drug bill on Capitol Hill. It has passed the House but hasn't even come up for consideration in the Senate, and time is fast running out. The House bill has many good and tough provisions that express our national commitment to five simple but powerful words. Those words are "zero tolerance" and "just say no." When we say zero tolerance, we mean, simply, that we've had it. We will no longer tolerate those who sell drugs and those who buy drugs. All Americans of good will are determined to stamp out those parasites who survive and even prosper by feeding off the energy and vitality and humanity of others. They must pay. We believe that when those who sell drugs are caught they must make redress for the damage they cause."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: October 8, 1988
war on terror
_Surface forms_: war on terror; war on terrorism
_Persona/In-Group_: Islamophobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: War on Arab and Muslim people\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/05/politicians-racial-dog-whistles/))\ \ This phrase evokes an image of the US military (and the nation) banding together to fight against all evils that threaten our liberty and justice. And who wouldn’t want to fight terror and defend our freedom? What isn’t explicit is that the “terror” that many politicians want us to go to war against are actually people of Arab and Muslim descent, who “for no reason at all,” hate everything the US stands for (like freedom and women’s rights). Proponents of fighting the “war on terror” often push for more military funding, invasions into other countries, and stricter immigration laws – all in the name of keeping (white) Americans safe from evil Arab and Muslim people. Immediately after 9/11, George W. Bush declared we would be going to war with all terrorists capable of harming the US, and created a large-scale military campaign in order to do so. In particular, Bush cited North Korea, Iraq, and Iran as countries that were hiding weapons of mass destruction and that actively trampled on their citizen’s rights. In his 2002 State of the Union address, he said these nations “constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.” This also led to nationwide acts of racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia against all people coded as Muslim and Arab. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Muslim people or people believed to be Muslim went up 1600% after 9/11. Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs, South Asians, and people perceived to be members of these groups in the United States have been continuously stereotyped as anti-American terrorists and have been brutalized and forced to apologize for it. Two Indian men, for instance, were shot in a Kansas bar in February by a white man who yelled, “Get out of my country!” The suspect gloated that he killed two Iranian men. Last year, a new study released by California State University, San Bernardino found that hate crimes against Muslims were up 78% in 2015. In addition to domestic hate crimes, the US continues to bomb countless Muslim-majority countries while simultaneously banning Muslim refugees from entering, all in the name of “keeping America safe.”
Example context (in [_Remarks at Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign reception_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-vice-president-bush-cheney-04-reception-1))\ \ "What's at stake here is our ability to take the basic part of the world, the Middle East, that has been the seed bed from which these terrorists have grown, that have attacked the United States and have been engaged in this war on terror now that goes back for a good many years. If we can successfully stand up good, solid governments, able to control their sovereign territory, representative of their people, that never again become safe havens for terrorists who are involved in producing weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan and in Iraq, we will have struck a blow at the basic, fundamental foundations of terrorism in the world which they're not likely to be able to recover from."\ \ _Speaker_: Dick Cheney (former Vice President)\ _Date_: October 3, 2003
war on women
_Surface forms_: war on women, war on women's rights
_Persona/In-Group_: liberal\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Republican policies are bad for all women\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_women))\ \ "War on women" is a slogan in United States politics used to describe certain Republican Party policies and legislation as a wide-scale effort to restrict women's rights, especially reproductive rights, including abortion. Prominent Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, as well as feminists, have used the phrase to criticize proponents of these laws as trying to force their social views on women through legislation.The slogan has been used to describe Republican policies in areas such as access to reproductive health services, particularly birth control and abortion services; the definition of rape for the purpose of the public funding of abortion; the prosecution of criminal violence against women; and workplace discrimination against women. While used in other contexts, and prior to 2010, it became a common slogan in American political discourse after the 2010 congressional elections. The term is often used to describe opposition to the contraceptive mandate in Obamacare and policies to defund women's health organizations that perform abortions, such as Planned Parenthood. The concept again gained attention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when Republican nominee Donald Trump drew notice for a history of inflammatory statements and actions toward women. The phrase and the concept have been criticized by Republicans and some anti-abortion Democrats. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus described it as an over-simplified fiction advanced by Democrats and the media while other Republicans contended that such rhetoric was used as a distraction from President Barack Obama and the Democrats' handling of the economy. In August 2012, Todd Akin's controversial comments regarding pregnancy and rape sparked renewed media focus on the concept. Republicans have tried to turn the phrase against Democrats by using it to argue hypocrisy for not critiquing sex scandals of members within their party who have cheated, sexted, and harassed women, and for not supporting bills to combat sex-selective abortion. RESEARCH NOTE: "war on women" may also be a transphobic dog whistle, with the covert meaning of trans people threatening the livelihoods of cis women. As with all dogwhistles, context is especially important.
Example context (in [_Speech at pro-abortion rally_](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/chuck-schumer-pro-abortion-rally-speech-transcript-says-kavanaugh-gorsuch-will-pay-the-price))\ \ "Over the last three years, women’s reproductive rights have come under attack in a way we haven’t seen in modern history. From Louisiana to Missouri to Texas, Republican legislatures are waging a war on women, all women, and they’re taking away fundamental rights."\ \ _Speaker_: Chuck Schumer (New York Senator)\ _Date_: March 4, 2020
we wuz kangz
_Surface forms_: we wuz kangz; we wuz kings; we wuz kangz n shieet; we wuz kangs
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: mocks claims of black nationalism by using mock AAVE \ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ We wuz kangz and variants (we wuz kings, we wuz kangz n shieet, etc.) mocks the claims of black nationalism about the race of the Ancient Egyptians by using linguistic racism (pseudo-African American Vernacular English). It implies that African Americans are incapable of understanding history and thus make absurd claims. This hypocritically ignores the pseudohistory worship of the alt-right itself, such as Holocaust denial. Sometimes, they even use it when nobody talks about Egypt and just say something positive on Black history before the triangular trade. The phrase "we wuz X n shieet" may also be used to refer to other people who are not necessarily black who make nationalistic claims which the alt-right may view as pseudohistorical.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/AdrianBerceni/status/1594171724668469248))\ \ "We wuz kangz and mother of Jesus and sheeet"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 19, 2022
welfare
_Surface forms_: welfare; welfare reform
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: racial minorities receive government aid that they don't deserve\ _Type_: concept (policy)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://ianhaneylopez.com/books-items/dog-whistle-politics))\ \ When Lyndon Johnson declared his War on Poverty, he extended the benefits of social welfare to nonwhites. In the process, this effort targeted segregation, for obviously poverty in nonwhite communities was deeply tied to racially closed workplaces, schools, and housing. As a result, welfare and integration became tightly linked, and hostility toward integration morphed into opposition to welfare. “The positive liberties [that the War on Poverty] extended to African Americans, notes Jill Quadagno, a scholar of race and welfare, “were viewed by the working class as infringement on their negative liberties, the liberty for trade unions to discriminate in the selection of apprentices and to control job training programs; the liberty to exclude minorities from representation in local politics; the liberty to maintain segregated neighborhoods”. To talk of rank racial discrimination in unions, politics, and housing in the language of a perceived infringement on liberty may seem strange. Yet for many, this is how they experienced integration. It was a social experiment being forced on them by government, and therefore a governmental infringement on their liberty to exclude. Reagan’s campaign against welfare helped make the case for tax cuts by successfully using social programs like welfare, and its implicit connection to integration, to convince voters that the real danger in their lives came from a looming, intrusive, government.
Example context (in [_State of the Union address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-12))\ \ "This spring I will send you a comprehensive welfare reform bill that builds on the Family Support Act of 1988 and restores the basic values of work and responsibility. We'll say to teenagers, "If you have a child out of wedlock, we will no longer give you a check to set up a separate household. We want families to stay together"; say to absent parents who aren't paying their child support, "If you're not providing for your children, we'll garnish your wages, suspend your license, track you across State lines, and if necessary, make some of you work off what you owe." People who bring children into this world cannot and must not walk away from them. But to all those who depend on welfare, we should offer ultimately a simple compact. We'll provide the support, the job training, the child care you need for up to 2 years. But after that, anyone who can work, must, in the private sector wherever possible, in community service if necessary. That's the only way we'll ever make welfare what it ought to be, a second chance, not a way of life."\ \ _Speaker_: Bill Clinton\ _Date_: January 25, 1994
welfare cheats
_Surface forms_: welfare cheat; welfare cheats
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black people who are lazy and take advantage of government social aid\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-assets/faculty/pedagogy/ACammett-SSRN-id2457225-Deadbeat-Dads-Welfare-Queen.pdf))\ \ Martin Gilens’s research reveals that, even today, the American public holds two prevalent beliefs about welfare. First, that most people who receive welfare are Black, and second, that Blacks are less dedicated to working than other Americans. Hearing the tale of the Welfare Queen and believing that the government was privileging non-deserving loafers over hardworking people like them, would comport with many Americans’ racial perceptions and, therefore, be cognitively plausible. The advantage of using metaphors is that it taps into an accepted communal system of values. By implying that committing acts of fraud was part of the character of the Welfare Queen trope, Reagan reinforced the “undeserving” status of the recipient. Reagan, casting this story as truth, confirmed many White Americans’ common sense of outrage over the deterioration of their country. As critical race scholar Richard Delgado notes, “[t]he stories or narratives told by the ingroup remind it of its identity in relation to outgroups, and provide it with a form of shared reality in which its own superior position is seen as natural.” Moreover, by 1976, the ongoing assault on welfare recipients coincided with a period of high inflation, falling wages, post-Vietnam War humiliation, and civil-rights weariness. The Welfare Queen trope triggered an emotional response in a body politic already anxious, seething with resentment, and primed to create a scapegoat: a welfare cheat who was perceived to be living a lavish lifestyle at taxpayer expense. Reagan continued to symbolically deploy his polarizing approach throughout the primary season. He was not reticent to exploit Americans’ racial fears, doing so consistently, selectively, and with language culturally resonant to each group of listeners.
Example context (in [_Special Report for The American Prospect_](https://prospect.org/special-report/vital-middle/))\ \ "We will not accept the Enron-ization of America, where insider deals and corporate welfare tilt the playing field in favor of well-connected mega-businesses and political friends. Stand for fair play--not handouts, not special interests--just plain, old-fashioned, everyone-plays-by-the-same rules. In the name of fairness, stop the rogues in the financial-services industry who quietly steal families' homes and pensions. Reject welfare cheats, corporate cheats, or cheats of any other stripe. Speak to us of fundamental fairness, and we will believe again in what we can be."\ \ _Speaker_: Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts senator)\ _Date_: July 16, 2004
welfare queen
_Surface forms_: welfare queen; welfare queens; the welfare queen
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black woman who are lazy and take advantage of government social aid\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/05/politicians-racial-dog-whistles/))\ \ It’s used to imply that Black women on social programs like welfare are lazy people who don’t do anything to “help themselves.” Instead, they have children to use up government money and the tax dollars of “hard-working” (read: white) Americans to live luxuriously. Ronald Reagan first hinted at this stereotype in 1976, while he was campaigning and promoting his anti-government assistance stance. In Reagan’s speeches, he never explicitly used the term “Black” or “African-American.” Instead, he drew upon stereotypes of Black people, such as the “over sexualized woman” and the “violent big, Black buck” tropes, to draw the connection between race and criminality. These speeches implied that Black people were criminals who refused to work. Instead, they tricked the government by abusing welfare systems to buy themselves extravagant things. One of his speeches in particular spoke about how frustrating it was to buy a hamburger at the grocery store, when someone on welfare could buy a T-bone steak. Because of this rhetoric, an increasing amount of restrictions are placed on public assistance programs, many of which make it even more impossible for people to pull themselves out of poverty. This is an issue because, as the Census Bureau data has proven, welfare programs are extremely effective. These programs aren’t a burden on society, but rather ways to help people and stimulate the economy. These types of stereotypes about Black people “living off the government” still exist today and Black people are still demonized for needing public assistanc. For instance, back in 2012, then-GOP candidate Rick Santorum stated he was against welfare because he didn’t “want to make Black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” In 2015, Gene Alday, a Republican politician from Mississippi, claimed that “all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call ‘welfare crazy checks…They don’t work.” Research Note: Politicians have rarely used the actual term "welfare queen", but frequently invoke this portrayal (which Reagan popularized) as a racial dogwhistle. The media coverage of Linda Taylor (the "woman in Chicago") were primarily responsible for popularizing the term [https://newrepublic.com/article/154404/myth-welfare-queen, https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/15/archives/welfare-queen-becomes-issue-in-reagan-campaign-hitting-a-nerve-now.html ], with the term probably originating from the Chicago Tribune's reporting on Linda Taylor's welfare fraud trials in Fall 1974.
Example context (in [_Campaign speech in New Hampshire_](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/15/archives/welfare-queen-becomes-issue-in-reagan-campaign-hitting-a-nerve-now.html))\ \ "There's a woman in Chicago. She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards and is collecting veterans’ benefits on four nonexisting deceased husbands. And she's collecting Social Security on her cards. She's got Medicaid, getting food stamps and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income alone is over $150,000."\ \ _Speaker_: Ronald Reagan\ _Date_: February 14, 1976
White Lives Matter
_Surface forms_: White Lives Matter; #WhiteLivesMatter; WLM; #WLM
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Black lives don't matter\ _Type_: concept (values)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://blmgrassroots.org/black-lives-matter-grassroots-responds-to-kanye-west-and-candace-owens-trending-for-wearing-white-lives-matter-shirts-by-offering-to-educate-them/))\ \ On Monday, Kanye West and Candace Owens wore shirts emblazoned with the words ‘White Lives Matter’ at the YZY Season 9 Presentation in Paris. The stunt was a clear affront to Black Lives Matter, which has been measured as the largest racial justice movement in history. Black models walked the runway wearing the same slogan. ‘All lives Matter’ and ‘White Lives Matter’ have long served as violent retorts to the Black Lives Matter movement, used by white supremacists and hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. Kanye West and Candace Owens sent a performative dog whistle to millions. Kanye knows very well that ‘white lives’ have never been targeted for oppression. Black folks, in contrast, are at the bottom of virtually every economic, social, and political measure because of centuries of individual and institutional racism. Building a world of Black freedom means upending systems that harm and building new systems of care. Ultimately this benefits everyone. When Black people get free, everybody gets free.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230104211130/https://twitter.com/MarkYoungTruth/status/909619870043648001))\ \ "Statistically a white criminal is at far greater risk of being shot by police versus a black suspect. Where's our riot? #whitelivesmatter "\ \ _Speaker_: Mark Young (author and podcaster)\ _Date_: September 17, 2017
who nose?
_Surface forms_: who nose?
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: the person who did this objectionable thing is Jewish\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ "Who nose?" is stated when the speaker wants to indicate "clearly the person who did this objectionable thing is Jewish." It's based on the pun of the legitimate question "Who knows?" and the stereotype that Jewish people have large noses. So for example if an artist named Hannah Greenbaum produces a comic book featuring a lesbian couple, an alt-righter might quip "Why would Greenbaum do that?", setting up another to reply, "Who nose?"
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230103225632/https://twitter.com/ElizabethKeesey/status/1593633873782611968))\ \ ""Do I look like I am ever going to pass?" Who nose, honey. Who nose?"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 18, 2022
Willie Horton
_Surface forms_: Willie Horton
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Convicted murderer whose imagery is used to link blackness with criminality and threat \ _Type_: representative (Bogeyman)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.vox.com/2018/12/1/18121221/george-hw-bush-willie-horton-dog-whistle-politics))\ \ George H.W. Bush, the one-term president who died on Friday at age 94, is often overlooked by history, despite having presided over the last truly bipartisan “grand bargain” and the end of the Cold War. But if there’s one context in which his name, along with that of another man, is regularly invoked, it’s when political campaigns make coded racist appeals to white voters. Even as President Donald Trump usurps him with increasingly transparent racist attacks, George Bush Sr.’s “Willie Horton” ad remains the key reference point for dog-whistle politics. The infamous “Willie Horton ad” was a 1988 presidential campaign TV spot created by Bush’s supporters that attacked his Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis for being soft on crime. Dukakis, the then-governor of Massachusetts, supported his state’s “weekend pass” program, which allowed imprisoned individuals — including those not eligible for parole — to leave prison for a day or more to work or go home. (As the Washington Post noted at the time, it was introduced by a Republican governor, and most states had the same policy, including California under Ronald Reagan.) The spot featured convicted murderer William “Willie” Horton, who had been able to escape while on such weekend furlough, and went on to rape a woman and stab her fiancé in a brutal 1987 home invasion. It was widely condemned for playing on racial fears by featuring a black man’s mug shot and linking blackness with depravity. The ad was intended to drive scared white people to the polls to vote for tough-on-crime Bush, seeking protection from black criminals like Horton and black-friendly candidates like Dukakis. As political-science professor Claire Jean Kim said in a 2012 PBS special, “the insinuation is, if you elect Gov. Dukakis as president, we’re going to have black rapists running amok in the country.”
Example context (in [_Televised Campaign Ad_](http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988/willie-horton ))\ \ "Bush and Dukakis on crime. Bush supports the death penalty for first degree murderers. Dukakis not only opposes the death penalty, he allowed first degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison. One was Willie Horton who murdered a boy in a robbery, stabbing him 19 times. Despite a life sentence, Horton received 10 weekend passes from prison. Horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man and repeatedly raping his girlfriend. [with image/mugshot of Horton]"\ \ _Speaker_: George H.W. Bush\ _Date_: September 21, 1988
windmill
_Surface forms_: windmill; windmill of friendship
_Persona/In-Group_: white supremacist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: a swastika (aka I am a white supremacist)\ _Type_: persona signal (symbol)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ A windmill or sometimes "windmill of friendship" is a (usually ASCII or copypasted) swastika, typically as used on Reddit or gaming platforms such as Twitch or Steam
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230103223222/https://twitter.com/Zunigadragon/status/1596883184549232640))\ \ "What can I say, old german guys just wanna rule the world with their Windmill of friendship"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 27, 2022
womanface
_Surface forms_: womanface
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: trans people treat womanhood as a costume\ _Type_: stereotype-based descriptor\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ An attempt to equate the existence of trans women to blackface; claiming that they treat womanhood as a "costume" while ignoring the oppression of "actual women".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230103230759/https://twitter.com/PiercyRohase/status/1589294920812367872))\ \ "Dear @eddieizzard, it's perfectly fine to be a transvestite who likes to wear women's clothing, in fact we all thought you brave for doing so publicly and applauded you for it! What is NOT all right is claiming that this makes you an actual woman. It doesn't. It's #WomanFace"\ \ _Speaker_: Piercy Rohase (author)\ _Date_: November 6, 2022
womyn
_Surface forms_: womyn; wombyn; womxn
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: cis women\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Alternative spellings of "woman"/"women" used to avoid ending the word with "-man". Historically, these terms have been used in wider feminist discourse. However, they are now used mostly by TERFs (since the 2010s). The term "wombyn" deliberately puts more emphasis on the uterus (primary organ involved in pregnancy); it is purposefully trans-exclusionary and used by TERFs since trans women are unable to become pregnant even post-transition.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210907214851/https://twitter.com/Evie_Magazine/status/1433795873532698627))\ \ "Now that we’re talking about abortion, suddenly it’s about women’s rights… not womxn’s rights… suddenly it’s not about birthing persons… suddenly men can’t get pregnant. Suddenly it’s about men vs. women. What happened to all the female larping and appropriating of womanhood?"\ \ _Speaker_: Evie Magazine\ _Date_: September 3, 2021
wonder-working power
_Surface forms_: wonder-working power
_Persona/In-Group_: religious\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: I am an Evangelical Christian\ _Type_: persona signal (shared culture)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-013-9265-x))\ \ For some, the phrase "wonder-working power" had no particular meaning, but for those who had been exposed to a popular evangelical hymn recognized the line as a refrain in "There is Power in the Blood"...David Kuo, who worked for various prominent Republicans and served in the George W. Bush administration, wrote "we threw in a few obscure turns of phrase known clearly to any evangelical, yet unlikely to be noticed by anyone else". Multivocal communication sugch as this might be particularly effective because it targets those predisposed to respond favorably to the message and goes over the heads of those who may be turned off by it
Example context (in [_State of the Union address_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-23))\ \ "Yet there's power-- wonder-working power-- in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people."\ \ _Speaker_: George W. Bush\ _Date_: January 28, 2003
working class
_Surface forms_: working families; working class; working-class; working class families; working-class communities; working class communities; working-class families
_Persona/In-Group_: racist\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: white working class\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://colorofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20_FamilyStory_RaceGuide_v08.pdf))\ \ This term is harmful in the way it excludes [Black families]. The image of “working class” families is one that is largely coded as “white” within the public imagination, frequently associated with rural, suburban and exurban communities. Rather than eliminating the use of this term, it is important to continue to expand its meaning, and the range of people whose image it evokes. One way to do that is to explicitly insert Black people into the narrative it carries, for instance, by talking about Black, white and other working class communities, or by talking about Black, white and other working families.
Example context (in [_Press Release_](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/press-release-senators-tom-cotton-and-david-perdue-usa-today-our-immigration-plan-pro ))\ \ "The basic principles of those laws haven't been changed in over half a century, making them divorced from the needs of our economy, while also depressing working-class wages. That's why we've introduced the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act, which updates our immigration laws to attract more ultra-high-skilled workers — and give working-class families the raise they deserve."\ \ _Speaker_: Tom Cotton (Arkansas senator) and David Perdue (former Georgia senator)\ _Date_: August 08, 2017
XX
_Surface forms_: XX
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: I am a transphobic cis woman\ _Type_: persona signal (self-referential)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TERF_glossary))\ \ Represents the female chromosomes. TERFs will put the female chromosomes (XX) in their social media profiles to denote that they exclude trans and nonbinary people who identify as female or femme.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220518063102/https://twitter.com/Wild_Womyn/status/1526812386841317376))\ \ "I am a feminist. I know what a woman is. I fight for the rights of women and girls. Do you? #resistance #letwomenspeak #JKRowling #xx [Attached photo of person wearing cap that says "XX"]"\ \ _Speaker_: Wild Womyn Workshop (clothing store)\ _Date_: May 18, 2022
Yahoo
_Surface forms_: Yahoo; Yahoos
_Persona/In-Group_: anti-Latino\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Hispanic person\ _Type_: arbitrary target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ [Operation Google] a Hispanic person
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230104003319/https://twitter.com/Oil_vampire/status/783423388006047744))\ \ "yea they all are geniuses. Same with every illegal alien crossing border. We will have couple million yahoos"\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: October 4, 2016
YKW
_Surface forms_: YKW; you know who
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish person\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ YKW is an acronym for You know who., i.e. Jews. YKW can also be used innocuously, meaning "you know what".
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20220722050605/https://twitter.com/karishmau/status/1550346263522340865))\ \ "Essentially if one bought anything from Wexner's multiple brands that also included Bath & Body Works, La Senza & Lane Bryant, the money possibly made its way to Epstein who used it to traffic underage girls. The docu is available #ykw"\ \ _Speaker_: Karishma Upadhyay (writer) \ _Date_: July 22, 2022
you can identify as anything you'd like
_Surface forms_: you can identify as anything you'd like; you can identify as whatever you like; you can identify as anything you like; you can identify as whatever you'd like
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: trans people are not to be taken seriously\ _Type_: humor/mockery/sarcasm\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://queervegan.com/2020/06/25/12-most-common-transphobic-dog-whistles/))\ \ This sounds like tolerance but at the core of this statement is the belief that trans people are living a fantasy that should not be indulged.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20200331194746/https://twitter.com/zaelefty/status/1245067729167663105))\ \ "Just because you say you're non-binary doesn't make you special. We're all males and females. You can identify as whatever you like, as such an identification comes from within yourself. But don't demand society to restructure itself around your internal perception."\ \ _Speaker_: Zach Elliott (author)\ _Date_: March 31, 2020
YWNBAW
_Surface forms_: YWNBAW
_Persona/In-Group_: transphobic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: trans women are not women\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ You Will Never Be A Woman (YWNBAW) is an alt-right insult to anyone who opposes their views on Trump and implies that a sizeable part of social progressives are transgender women. The insult derives from a 4chan copypasta that became popular on other right wing platforms.[455] The copypasta argues that trans women are not women in a biological sense because they have no eggs and no womb and that they can never give birth, while also arguing that any compliments given to them are fake and humiliating in order to imply that trans women will mutilate their body to fish for likes.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20210805143839/https://twitter.com/QuiQuiQuiQui4/status/1423286704262160392))\ \ "Might I suggest you reach out to YWNBAW? Very likely to help shed light on the situation."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: August 5, 2021
Zionist
_Surface forms_: Zionist; Zionists; Zio; Zios
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people\ _Type_: stereotype-based target group label\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.adl.org/resources/report/quantifying-hate-year-anti-semitism-twitter ))\ \ Sharp criticism of Israel, even criticism that pushes the limits of civility, is not necessarily anti-Semitic. However, anti-Semitic tweets will often employ the term “Zionist” as a stand-in for “Jew,” in a context that clearly indicates the tweet was either motivated by anti-Semitism or perpetuated anti-Semitic themes.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](http://web.archive.org/web/20230104020204/https://twitter.com/drbairdonline/status/1600884878429499392))\ \ "Ronald Lauder, Zionist billionaire who gave Jeffrey Epstein Austrian passport w/fake name & "the driving force" behind privatizing Twin Towers so Larry Silverstein could get 99-year lease, calls for Apple, Spotify to remove Kanye's music"\ \ _Speaker_: Bruce Baird (podcaster and author)\ _Date_: December 8, 2022
Zionist Occupation Government
_Surface forms_: Zionist Occupation Government; Zionist-occupied Government; ZOG; Z0g; z0g; zog
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish people control the world\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Formal/Offline
Description (from [_Source_](https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-02/AJC_Translate-Hate-Glossary-2021.pdf ))\ \ White supremacist belief declaring the U.S. government is controlled by Jews. ZOG is a white supremacist theory that believes Jews (“Zionists”) secretly control Western politics (see conspiracy theory, control). The term first appeared in the 1970s in the U.S. and is found on white supremacist sites such as Aryan Nations and National Alliance. By manipulating Western governments, antisemites claim ZOG controls the world economy, limits free speech, confiscates land, and usurps military and police forces. The phrase “Zionist occupiers” is also used by antisemites on the far-left and by Islamists, seeking to destroy Israel.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://twitter.com/GodCloseMyEyes/status/1588569802918236160))\ \ "yoel roth & harley pasternak both caught publicly trying to control what people say in the same week? do better, zog."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: November 4, 2022
Zioworld
_Surface forms_: Zioworld
_Persona/In-Group_: antisemitic\ _Covert (in-group) meaning_: Jewish control of the world\ _Type_: concept (other)\ _Register_: Informal/Online
Description (from [_Source_](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alt-right_glossary))\ \ Zioworld is shorthand for the Zionist Occupation Government and the antisemitic interpretation of the one world government conspiracy.
Example context (in [_Tweet_](https://archive.is/5PLdw#selection-403.0-408.0))\ \ "ZioWorld Bankers.Their days are numbered. Liars deceivers and thieves have the upper hand until they have shit on everyone . No hiding now."\ \ _Speaker_: Anonymous\ _Date_: May 13, 2017