[Ads-l] -coded

Sat Feb 14 00:30:39 UTC 2026

I'd think that in 1978 "gay-coded" meant "using subtly, not obviously, gay
language.""

I recall a linguistics course in the mid-seventies in which words like
"vivacious" were considered "coded female," and words like "brawny" were
"coded male."  I.e., used or expected to be used solely with female (human)
or male (human) referents.

Personally, I find these uses of "coded" unfortunate, pretentious, and
annoying.  They seem to say, "smart people can easily crack the code, but
you can't."
Find a better word, people!

JL

On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 6:18 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> 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
>

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