{"id":6269,"date":"2017-10-19T15:19:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T19:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=6269"},"modified":"2017-10-19T15:22:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T19:22:42","slug":"the-english-language-of-spies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/the-english-language-of-spies\/","title":{"rendered":"The (English) Language of Spies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6270\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2017\/10\/Spies.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2017\/10\/Spies.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2017\/10\/Spies-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They walk among us. If you spend enough time at an international airport, I guarantee that one will pass right in front of you. They hack, they listen, they watch from the shadows, they examine records, they find and exploit secrets, and they have been around for centuries. They are spies.<\/p>\n<p>In the most simplistic terms, spies gather information which is not publicly known, handing it over to people who will exploit that information against those from whom it was acquired. Spies work in many different professions. They may work for governments, corporations, or even small businesses. Sports teams spy on each other to get an advantage during games. Depending on the seriousness of what was gathered, a spy may be risking imprisonment and even execution. The first rule of the spy is <em>don\u2019t get caught<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, for many of us, the spy has been glamorized in books, movies, and television. You\u2019ve probably heard of <strong>James Bond<\/strong>, the suave and cool agent of Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service created by <strong>Ian Fleming<\/strong>. Bond is the ultimate fantasy of what a spy is and does, but there is some truth behind the fanciful tales of 007 and his world. Fleming was a spy during World War 2, and was present when modern spy networks and methods were created.<\/p>\n<p>Spies have a language all their own, with a vocabulary that is important to learn if you are ever to understand them. Not that I am advocating a career as a spy, but if you want to read the books of <strong>Tom Clancy<\/strong> or <strong>John le Carr\u00e9<\/strong>, two brilliant but very different authors of spy thrillers, then you need to understand their special vernacular. Or, even if you just want to comprehend some of the stories in the news today, then you should get to know some of these terms and phrases.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Agent <\/strong>\u2013 Someone employed, usually unofficially, as a spy<\/li>\n<li><strong>Asset<\/strong> \u2013 A clandestine source of information<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bagman <\/strong>\u2013 Person who pays agents, assets, and covert operatives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Black ops <\/strong>\u2013 Covert operations working without any traceable connections to the organization or government employing them<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blown <\/strong>\u2013 The discovery of an agent\u2019s identity or mission<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bugging <\/strong>\u2013 Listening and\/or watching covertly using recording devices<\/li>\n<li><strong>Burned <\/strong>\u2013 When an agent or mission has been compromised<\/li>\n<li><strong>Case Officer <\/strong>\u2013 The person in charge of a covert operation<\/li>\n<li><strong>C.I.A. <\/strong>\u2013 The Central Intelligence Agency, serving as the foreign intelligence gathering service of the United States<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clandestine Operation <\/strong>\u2013 A secret intelligence-gathering mission<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cloak and Dagger <\/strong>\u2013 Term applied to any spy. Figuratively, a cloak is worn to conceal the spy\u2019s identity, while the dagger assassinates anyone who gets too close.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cold War <\/strong>\u2013 The undeclared war between western democracies and Soviet-controlled countries<\/li>\n<li><strong>COMINT <\/strong>\u2013 Information taken from intercepted communications<\/li>\n<li><strong>Company <\/strong>\u2013 Slang term for MI6 or CIA<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compromised <\/strong>\u2013 When damaging information is gathered on an agent, asset, or operation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Counter Intelligence <\/strong>\u2013 The job of working against governments and agents who wish to spy on your country<\/li>\n<li><strong>Covert <\/strong>\u2013 Secretive, and performed without detection<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dead Drop <\/strong>\u2013 A location where secret information can be left without fear of it being found<\/li>\n<li><strong>Defector <\/strong>\u2013 Someone who worked for one side, and now states a wish to work for the opposing side<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disinformation <\/strong>\u2013 Passing along false information<\/li>\n<li><strong>Double Agent <\/strong>\u2013 A spy who pretends to be working for one side, but is really working for another side. A source of disinformation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Drones <\/strong>\u2013 Spy cameras, usually controlled long distance<\/li>\n<li><strong>Espionage <\/strong>\u2013 The practice of spying<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eyes Only <\/strong>\u2013 Valuable information intended for only one person to see<\/li>\n<li><strong>FBI <\/strong>\u2013 The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is the domestic counterintelligence and federal law enforcement branch of the United States<\/li>\n<li><strong>Handler <\/strong>\u2013 The case officer who handles the agents in an operation<\/li>\n<li><strong>HUMINT <\/strong>\u2013 Information taken from human sources<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legend <\/strong>\u2013 The fictionalized background story of an agent, often with fake documents, giving the agent a false but secure identity<\/li>\n<li><strong>MI-5 <\/strong>\u2013 The domestic security and intelligence agency of Great Britain, officially known as the Security Service<\/li>\n<li><strong>MI-6 <\/strong>\u2013 The foreign security and intelligence agency of Great Britain, officially known as the Secret Intelligence Service<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mole <\/strong>\u2013 A spy working in one organization on behalf of a competing organization.<\/li>\n<li><strong>NSA <\/strong>\u2013 The National Security Agency of the United States, tasked with safeguarding the communications of the government, and intercepting the communications of other governments<\/li>\n<li><strong>OSS <\/strong>\u2013 The Office of Strategic Services, the US spy agency of World War II and the predecessor of the CIA<\/li>\n<li><strong>PHOTINT <\/strong>\u2013 Photographic intelligence, usually gathered by satellites or drones<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provocateur <\/strong>\u2013 Operative sent to incite an organization into acting in an embarrassing or militant manner<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safe House <\/strong>\u2013 A sanctuary for agents, operatives, and\/or assets<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sleeper <\/strong>\u2013 An agent living for an extended period in a foreign country and called to service only when absolutely necessary<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spymaster <\/strong>\u2013 The authoritative head of all operations by a unit of spies<\/li>\n<li><strong>Station <\/strong>\u2013 The place where espionage is planned and executed<\/li>\n<li><strong>TECHINT <\/strong>\u2013 Technical information, such as analysis and data, gathered for an operation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Throwaway <\/strong>\u2013 An expendable agent or asset<\/li>\n<li><strong>Traffic Analysis <\/strong>\u2013 Basic facts gained from volumes of information<\/li>\n<li><strong>U-2 <\/strong>\u2013 The world\u2019s most famous spy plane, developed in the Cold War by the US and still used today<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to take this information and use it to help you enjoy a spy movie, novel, or television series in English. Should you choose to become a spy yourself, good luck, and hope that you don&#8217;t end up a throwaway.<\/p>\n<p>Can you think of any other terms, words, or phrases that I should have included?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"197\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2017\/10\/Spies-350x197.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2017\/10\/Spies-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2017\/10\/Spies.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>They walk among us. If you spend enough time at an international airport, I guarantee that one will pass right in front of you. They hack, they listen, they watch from the shadows, they examine records, they find and exploit secrets, and they have been around for centuries. They are spies. In the most simplistic&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/the-english-language-of-spies\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":6270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,135139,135370],"tags":[386354,500904,500906,500905,462531,500903,13],"class_list":["post-6269","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-english-language","category-english-vocabulary","tag-american-culture","tag-cia","tag-mi5","tag-mi6","tag-spies","tag-spy-novels","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6269"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6276,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions\/6276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}