Decoding the Obvious: 35 Secrets Hiding in Plain Sight

Violets represented a secret code between lesbians, identifying them among heterosexual peers, and in films. The tradition originated from Sappho’s poetry in 600 B.C.

Obituaries have long employed a secret code, a shorthand to mask causes of death that survivors found embarrassing. When HIV/AIDS began claiming lives in the 1980s, young men were said to have simply succumbed to "pneumonia." There is also a code for gay men that says they were "Unmarried" or "Confirmed bachelor." The codes “died at home” or “died suddenly” or simply “passed away” come out when there’s a drug overdose or a suicide.

The lamp posts in Central Park in Manhattan have secret codes on their base so that you won't get lost. The newer street lights have a code that is similar to C8202. C meaning center drive (W and E meaning West or east respectively). 82 meaning the closest street is 82 st. And the last 2 numbers meaning the pole in that area as it corresponds to a map.

Flippable yellow signs which you may sometimes in commonly in Hollywood and sometimes in other cities are secret-coded directions for actors to get to filming locations. They often feature insider jokes like: "Freezer Burn" signs pointing to the Captain America shoot (a reference to him being put on ice)

"Friend of Dorothy" was code popular in the 80's, which gay men used for secretly identifying each other. The higher ups in the Navy believed that there actually was some woman named Dorothy at the center of a massive ring of homosexual military personnel, so they launched an enormous and futile hunt for the elusive "Dorothy".