dog-whistley

Adj. Used to describe questions asked to one seeking entrance to a fringe group/political cult. A dog-whistley question lets true believers know it's time to talk about the hard core stuff. "Samantha" on WEB OF MAKE BELIEVE (Episode 3, "I'm Not a Nazi") used this phrase to describe the way white supremacist group, Identity Europe, delicately asked her about "the Jewish Question."

These skinheads were asking me these dog-whistley questions about other races and then I realized they wanted to recruit me.

dog-whistley by Land Man September 14, 2022

dogwhistle

In politics, to make an innocuous statement which is designed to trigger previously indoctrinated bigotry & hatred without being recognized by outsiders for bigotry or hateful speech.

1. "Barack Obama is a *community* *organizer*, which is like being Mayor without the responsibilities"

In the previous days, Rush Limbaugh had repeatedly railed against "communist union *organizers* who claim to be part of your community," and "*Community organizers* like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton from the urban areas who want what they call 'social justice' - meaning people like you and me get our wealth redistributed" Those who missed this or even read a transcript without emphasis wouldn't pick up on the previously mentioned connotations or the hatred that had been carefully engrained in the words. The dogwhistle approach was wildly successful at stirring the base without detracting from her shiny new image.

2. A commercial was created portraying Barack Obama's achievements in an awed tone and questioning how he did it, with the same font, background imagery, and tone as the Left Behind movies. This casually portrays him as the Antichrist to those deathly afraid of an Antichrist, while not being picked up by anyone else. Dogwhistling to the fundamentalists is a strategy McCain has to use to keep his base awake while not offending the rest of the country.

dogwhistle by Andronomy October 29, 2008