Dog whistle
Etymology
From the literal ultrasonic dog whistle, pitched so only dogs can hear it. Transferred to politics (Australian, then American, from the 1990s) for language tuned to reach a specific audience while staying inaudible — or deniable — to the rest.
noun · /DOG-wis-ul/
A coded message that sounds innocuous to most people but carries a pointed second meaning for a target group.
What it names
How a statement can be deniable and pointed at once — heard clearly by those meant to hear it, missed by everyone else.
Example
The line about "inner cities" was a dog whistle, and everyone meant to hear it did.
Related idea
A dog whistle hides meaning inside plain sound; gaslighting denies a shared reality outright.