dog whistle politics
n.— «A simple statement such as “I don’t like political correctness” might not sound too threatening but there are some who hear something quite different, such as “It’s okay to be racist.” When the politician who used the original words is challenged for inciting racism, he or she is able to say, “No, all I said was I’m against political correctness, what’s wrong with that?” A number of people last week hotly disputed that wedge and dog-whistle politics are played in Australia. Don’t believe them. That’s just spin.» —“Driving a wedge to win” by Dennis Atkins Courier Mail (Brisbane, Australia) Apr. 10, 2000. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you’re actually fluent? And a couple’s dispute over the word regret: Say you wish you’d been able...
While reading Dean Koontz’s book The House at the End of the World (Bookshop|Amazon), a listener in Ramona, California, encountered the perfect word for the walks he takes with his dog. He now refers to such an excursion as a sniffari. This is...