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That old flash lingo. Thieves' Cant revisited.
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<blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 3601542" data-attributes="member: 34175"><p>Wickiy - really, 'cant' is just jargon. </p><p>Since you use it as code to pass linguistics cues in the open, the code can be longstanding or updated on a regular basis (yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily). ALSO, a perticular job, might use a particular cant in order to keep things on the sly even amongst those in the know.</p><p></p><p>As a former cryptologist, we termed this as rotating the key - (keeping your key codes moving). Though linguistically it isn't used as often (though the different examples herein are all great and good for a launch point in a bunch of different settings.) The key isn't the speech, but the security. For example, I create a code and state that every other word is the phrase word and the preceeding word is just filler - "I want you to steal the diamond" is kind of hard to fit into a sentence without someone else figuring out that you want the person to steal the diamond. (try it and end up with something that doesn't sound like a gibberish sentence)</p><p>Likewise, if my code states that everytime I say blue then I mean theft and green means murder but only on alternate Wendsdays inside of months that don't end in Z but only when the..... Well you get the drift. It becomes overly complicated and you risk message degradation.</p><p>The rules for a good code:</p><p>Simplicity - It should be simple to learn</p><p>Elegance - Elegant in it usage</p><p>Obfuscation - Completely impossible to decipher without inside knowledge or a lot of research by someone trained to do just that.</p><p></p><p>"Me and Jimmy were outback of the lou' when Bob dropped a penny in the well. I thought we were dripped but good, but a candyman came down the lane and next thing you know Ol Jed's a Millionarie. Luckily Betty was there with the thimble to pass out the kisses and cuddles."</p><p></p><p>And don't bother trying to dechipher it, it's gibberish; but if you can imagine a conversation like this meaning something, then cant isn't that far from your grasp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Thunderfoot, post: 3601542, member: 34175"] Wickiy - really, 'cant' is just jargon. Since you use it as code to pass linguistics cues in the open, the code can be longstanding or updated on a regular basis (yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily). ALSO, a perticular job, might use a particular cant in order to keep things on the sly even amongst those in the know. As a former cryptologist, we termed this as rotating the key - (keeping your key codes moving). Though linguistically it isn't used as often (though the different examples herein are all great and good for a launch point in a bunch of different settings.) The key isn't the speech, but the security. For example, I create a code and state that every other word is the phrase word and the preceeding word is just filler - "I want you to steal the diamond" is kind of hard to fit into a sentence without someone else figuring out that you want the person to steal the diamond. (try it and end up with something that doesn't sound like a gibberish sentence) Likewise, if my code states that everytime I say blue then I mean theft and green means murder but only on alternate Wendsdays inside of months that don't end in Z but only when the..... Well you get the drift. It becomes overly complicated and you risk message degradation. The rules for a good code: Simplicity - It should be simple to learn Elegance - Elegant in it usage Obfuscation - Completely impossible to decipher without inside knowledge or a lot of research by someone trained to do just that. "Me and Jimmy were outback of the lou' when Bob dropped a penny in the well. I thought we were dripped but good, but a candyman came down the lane and next thing you know Ol Jed's a Millionarie. Luckily Betty was there with the thimble to pass out the kisses and cuddles." And don't bother trying to dechipher it, it's gibberish; but if you can imagine a conversation like this meaning something, then cant isn't that far from your grasp. [/QUOTE]
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