[Ads-l] -coded

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The use of "X-coded" is based on the previous use of "coded as X", I
think. The OED has a pertinent definition with a citation containing
the phrase "culturally coded as feminine".

[Begin OED excerpt]
code verb
III. Extended uses.
III.7. transitive. To shape (something) according to any (unwritten)
system of social or cultural conventions or customs; to assign a
category, meaning, or symbolism to (something) according to such a
system. Frequently with as.

1970 Let me stress again that these positions, movements, and
expressions are culturally coded—that what is viewed as masculine in
one culture may be regarded as feminine in another.
R. L. Birdwhistell, Kinesics & Context i. vi. 44

1986 Women's efforts towards collective self-definition have
revalorized attributes and activities culturally coded as feminine.
H. J. Maroney in J. Mitchell & A. Oakley, What is Feminism? 101

2003 Cultural ideas about gender are never more obviously on display
as when an otherwise gender-neutral toy is coded as either masculine
or feminine by its styling.
Bitch Summer 35/1
[End OED excerpt]

Here is a fun 1967 citation that, I think, illustrates the transition
between two different senses. This citation is about a scientific
study, and it contains the phrases "coded as masculine" and "coded as
feminine".

Date: September 1967
Journal: Child Development
Volume 38, Number 3
Quote Page 783
Article: Similarity and Accordance between Parents and Sons in
Attitudes toward Mathematics
Author: John P. Hill (Harvard University)
Database: JSTOR
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1127255

[Begin excerpt]
The parental responses were later coded as masculine if they fell into
any of the following categories: Competitiveness, Active Response to
Frustration, Activity Level, Achievement-Occupational Success,
Independence-Autonomy, and Athletics.

The responses were coded as feminine if they could be categorized as:
Submissiveness, Passive Response to Frustration, Warmth or
Instrumental Nurturance, Social Behavior (Courtesy Poise, Pleasant,
Consideration for Others), and Family Role (Homemaker Wife, Mother)
[End excerpt]

Strictly speaking the phrases "coded as masculine" and "coded as
feminine" were used with the following sense given in the OED:

[Begin OED excerpt]
code verb
II.3. transitive. To assign a code to (something) for purposes of
classification or identification

1885 The clerk was engaged..in forwarding these messages, all of which
he coded as having been sent out at 2.25 in the afternoon.
Law Times 21 November 44/1
[End OED excerpt]

Nevertheless, this 1967 citation overlaps with the symbolic sense and,
I think, helps to illustrate the evolution of the symbolic sense given
in the OED.

JL is interested in the template "X-coded". Here is an example of
"gay-coded" in 1978.

Year: 1978
Book: Getting Sex: A New Approach: More Fun, Less Guilt
Author: John Alan Lee
Quote Page 180 and 181
Publisher: Musson Book Company: A Division of General Publishing
Company, Don Mill, Ontario, Canada,
Database: Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/gettingsexnewapp0000leej/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22gay-coded%22

[Begin excerpt]
A less common non-gay source of contacts than the shared accommodation
column, is the personal column of the Metropolitan dailies. On a
typical weekend these columns will contain thirty or forty
companionship ads, of which a few will be obviously gay-coded.
However, the newspaper editors seem more aware (or at least more
willing to police) the personal column so opportunities are fewer.

>From time to time even an alert editor is obviously bamboozled, as in
the example: "Docile male, 38, interested in leather craft, seeks
others with same interest." Of course this was a slave (docile)
looking for an S/M (leather) master.
[End excerpt]

On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 11:32 AM Ben Zimmer
<00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> There's a lot more to the "-coded" suffix than that. Here's an explainer.
>
> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/what-does-it-mean-to-be-coded-linguists-break-down-the-very-online-use-of-the-word-173139947.html
>
> On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 11:19 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > "-appearing" ?
> >
> > <goog_1503303124>
> >
> > https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/tongue-hurts-biting-long-29-111602540.html
> >
> >
> > "I live a very conservative-coded life despite being liberal. My husband is
> > a retired combat veteran, and we moved to rural Missouri after he retired
> > to start a small farm...which all lends to the appearance of very
> > traditional gender roles. Most people make the [erroneous] assumption that
> > I'm conservative almost immediately."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 4:28 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > "-favoring" ?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/maga-coded-anchor-show-producer-100059035.html
> > >
> > > MAGA-Coded Anchor’s Show Producer Rips CBS in Fiery Farewell
> > >
> > >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org