Anne Quaranto discusses her article, "Dog Whistles, Covertly Coded Speech, and the Practices that Enable Them." Dog whistles are words or phrases that seem ordinary but send hidden, often derogatory messages. These forms of coded speech are often used by pundits, politicians, and public figures. Why do they use them and what do they mean? On the one hand, it seems possible to dog whistle unintentionally, merely by uttering certain expressions. On the other hand, the intention of the dog whistles is designed, not just by chance, to hide their real message.



Anne Quaranto is a postdoctoral associate in philosophy at Yale University.