NOC
n.— «Barnes is a neophyte agent, an ex-doctoral candidate in Ottoman history, trained as a case officer under nonofficial cover, “known in the secret language of the club as NOC. As in: knock on wood.” Naive and idealistic, she was “afflicted with the disease, common and occasionally fatal among intelligence officers, of wanting to make the world better.”» —“Fictional Foreign Intrigue” by Alix Madrigal San Francisco Chronicle (California) Apr. 28, 1991. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...
While reading Great Expectations (Bookshop|Amazon) by Charles Dickens, a listener in Arlington, Texas, is surprised when one of the characters inherits some money, which Dickens describes as a cool four thousand. Were they really using cool that way...