underworld figures use argot to plot heists; spies and military officials encrypt classified intelligence. The history of codes is as deeply intertwined with rulers and generals as with priests: solving riddles was one of the feats expected of a hero. Alexander the Great, in the middle of his siege of Tyre, dreamed of a satyr; it was a good omen because the word satyros contained the message "Sa Tyros," or "Tyre is yours." It isn't much of a leap from that to contemporary military euphemisms--think of "collateral damage." From ancient scytales to Enigma machines, codes have been enlisted to win wars.But what value does oblique language have for us outside the battlefield and the shrine?
from The Nation: The Everyday Oblique
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