In my new book Does This News Make Me Look Fat?, “Something tastes funny” refers to when you consume media that has content or an argument with a taste to it that doesn’t seem right.  Similar to how you might bite into a hamburger and get hit with an odd taste.  It makes you slow down for a second, contemplate what’s amiss. In my book, I talk about many of these, but let’s focus on one example: Dog whistle words.

Dog whistle words seem like innocent words and phrases, but they are words with an extra meaning that only certain people hear and pick up on. Mostly heard by people who may have a bias, belief or anxiety that they associate with those words. So while these words are seen as innocent and pass over the heads of those without that particular bias, others hear the concepts and ideological frames they are communicating loud and clear.

Dog whistle words are favored in the world of politics in that it allows political operatives, political commercial and even politicians to communicate a controversial idea without being direct enough to be called out on it.

Why does this work? Those with keen media literacy skills know that words are not as much solid bricks of meaning, but rather “buckets” of meaning.  The value and the way we understand them depends on what meaning we put into them. And over time and between different people, we can put different meanings into words.

Take the word “gay.” In the early 1900’s, the same word has a different meaning than today’s use of the word. The word literally did not change. Still spelled g-a-y.  What changed was one meaning was poured out of the word and filled with another.

What powers dog whistle words are words that seem ordinary but get emotionally or viscerally charged ideas poured into them. So what you end up with is the same, often innocent looking word, but now holding ideas or emotional cues that give the word a different feeling or meaning to those who can see them.

For more about dog whistle words and other things that “taste funny” in media, check out my book Does This News Make Me Look Fat?  Or learn more at www.junkfoodmedianation.com.