TheCodeBreakers
" They culminate in a prearranged table of
artificial meanings. Jargon has been popular since the dawn of
cryptography. The Chinese employed it; the oldest papal code is the
14th-century use of EGYPTIANS for Ghibellines and SONS OF ISRAEL for
Guelphs; in the 17th century a French code consisted entirely of such
jargon expressions as GARDEN for Rome, ROSE for the pope, PLUM TREE for
the Cardinal de Retz, WINDOW for Monsieur the king's brother, and
STAIRCASE for the Marquis de Coeuvres. It is clear that skillful application
of jargon's literary veneer requires no little finesse!
Censorship defends itself against this ruse by a feel for stilted or
heavy-handed language and by a healthy skepticism concerning subject
matter. The standard story about jargon comes from World War I. A
British censor grew suspicious of the enormous orders for cigars wired
each day—mostly from port towns—by two "Dutch business-
men
annaabi.ee 
