what is dog whistle slang for

In politics, a dog whistle is the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking negative attention). The term "dog whistle" is derived from ultrasonic dog whistles, which are audible to dogs but not humans). The phrase "dog whistle" has been around for years and is political shorthand for a phrase that may sound innocuous to some people, but which also communicates something more insidious either to a subset of the audience or outside of the audience’s conscious awareness. The term has been used to describe the way politicians use coded messages to appeal to their political bases. The messages are generally understood by a particular group of people, but not by others. The use of dog whistles is generally met with exasperated denials, and some commentators have concluded that the concept of the dog whistle is often too vague and open to abuse for it to be useful.