History Main / PublicSecretMessage

Subtrope to DoubleMeaning. Compare/contrast SarcasticConfession, HiddenInPlainSight, OvertRendezvous.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': In the two-part episode "The Secret of the Sun, Moon and Stars", Professor Agasa and Shinichi Kudo (really Conan Edogawa) suggest that the drawings of the sun, moon, and stars found on various objects in the home of Agasa's late uncle were a code much like the Dancing Men (see the SherlockHolmes examples, below).

* Many rock bands have been accused by MoralGuardians of putting hidden messages in their album covers or the lyrics of their songs, some of which would only be deciphered if you played the records backwards. Music/TheBeatles are the most famous example. Though sometimes these hidden messages were clearly intended by the artists themselves, others were nothing more than extremely far-fetched fan theories. At least one band has said something to the effect of "If we had put subliminal messages in our records, they'd say 'Buy Our Records' ".

* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', [[MissionControl Dan]] communicates with Iji by speaking, in English, through every speaker in the complex. Since the aliens never bothered to learn any human languages, they can't understand him, and since he uses every speaker, they can't use the active speakers to track Iji.

* In ''The Phantom of Venice'', one of the VideoGame/NancyDrew computer games, the members of the mysterious crime ring that's responsible for the thefts of priceless art and relics use these to communicate with each other. Methods include the arrangements of particular flavors of chocolate inside a gift box, chess games that actually translate to addresses when the board is read as a letter grid, and tying tiny notes to the legs of the pigeons in the squares around the city.
* In ''VideoGame/BackToTheFutureTheGame'', the franchise's tendency toward ImMrFuturePopCultureReference pays off, resulting in an accidental version of this trope, when Marty discovers that one "Creator/CarlSagan" was gunned down by gangsters in 1931, which flags Marty's attention enough to dig deeper and discover that "Carl Sagan" was, indeed, Doc.

* Used as a teaser in ''VideoGame/PokemonGo''. One of the announcements is accompanied by a five-sentence paragraph. The first letter of each sentence spells out U-N-O-V-A, the setting for ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', strongly suggesting that Generation V Pokémon would be coming to ''Pokémon GO'' in the near future.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "My Mother the Carjacker", Mona Simpson encodes secret messages to her son in the newspaper, in food articles, using the first letter from each word.
** Homer sent a message to Lisa in the ''New York Times'' CrosswordPuzzle. {{Defictionalized}} by the ''NY Times'' running that same puzzle.
** [[Music/TheBeatles Paul McCartney]], in-universe, would hide recipes inside of his songs, which can be heard by playing the song backwards. This is made up for the show, but the end credits for that episode would actually have [=McCartney=] reading out a soup recipe played backwards and quietly over the music.

* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'': Matt leaves one to Pidge and his father by [[spoiler: listing the wrong birthday on his gravestone when he fakes his own death]], giving them the coordinates of his actual location.
* In the second season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays'', Argost starts sending Zak secret messages regarding cryptids as part of [[ShowWithinAShow television show]] ''Weird World''.
* Crops up in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GerryAndersonsNewCaptainScarlet'' when Captain Ochre is captured by Mysteron Agents and forced to check in with headquarters at gunpoint. She uses a pre-arranged duress code-phrase to alert Spectrum that she's in trouble, and Captains Blue and Scarlet are dispatched in a [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Rhino APC]] to rescue her. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the Mysterons are a lot smarter in the remake, and not only did they see it coming, [[XanatosGambit they were counting on it]] so they could jack the Rhino and blow up a nuclear power station with it.]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', after Goliath, Hudson, and Bronx are captured by The Pack, the younger Gargoyles discover a commercial on their TV, in which a woman who is clearly Fox stresses the names of Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington (Avenue) while encouraging the viewer to use the subway, cluing the three in to where the Pack is holed up.

* This occurs twice shortly apart regarding the same event in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', specifically [[spoiler: the secret investigation involving TheMole, Hawks, who has infiltrated the [[LegionOfDoom League of Villains]] and discovered they have massively swelled their numbers by taking over the Meta Liberation Army and now have the strength necessary to take on ''all the heroes'' and destroy Japan]]. The public safety commission can't let anyone know about any of this for fear of moles in their own ranks, but the fact something big is going down behind the scenes does unofficially find its way out.
** The safety commission demands that U.A. High restart their student hero internships ahead of schedule, and the U.A. staff quickly (and correctly) deduce the commission has secretly discovered that a major crisis involving the League of Villains looms close and they need every possible hand on deck to combat it.
** [[spoiler:Hawks]] can't directly tell anyone else what he's doing and what's going to go down for fear of being compromised, but is able to give the [[spoiler: #1 Hero, Endeavour,]] the manuscript for the Meta Liberation Army, and tells him to take a look at it sometime, particularly the sections he personally highlighted. [[spoiler: Endeavour [[OutOfCharacterAlert notices something is off about Hawks from his changed demeanour]]]] and reading through the highlighted sections, discovers that the second word of each highlighted section put together assembles a covert message warning him that the endgame approaches.

* In ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', a criminal group called the Visitors coerce Fred Danvers into sending ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} a holographic message to dissuade her from searching for their headquarters. As listening to her father's projection warning that her mother is being held hostage, Supergirl notices how peculiarly and insistently he is stressing "[She] cannot go past [him]" because "It's a stone wall before [her]!". Given that there are no walls around her -because she happens to be flying over the Catskill Mountains-, Supergirl realizes he is surreptitiously saying he can teleport her into the Visitors' lair if she flies into his hologram.

* In ''Fanfic/PurpleDays'', Joffrey finds a mysterious cypher that he knows for a fact was meant for him and him alone. It turns out to be a double cypher: first, each symbol represents a different letter, correlating to constellations and the different number of stars on each, and the second uses a clue found in Yeen, "everyone but the purple prince steps to the right" - telling Joffrey to move each letter except those in his name one position to the right, finally producing the message.
* In ''Fanfic/DoubleAgentVader'', one of the ways Anakin relieves his feelings is by anonymously sending an elaborate flower arrangement to the annual gala celebrating the founding of the Empire, using the Naboo traditional flower language (which Anakin learned from Padme, and which is one of many Naboo traditions Palpatine never bothered to learn) to say exactly what he thinks of Palpatine. The senator from Naboo also knows the flower language, and gets a certain amount of surreptitious pleasure from decoding the message each year — and finds, one year, that it also includes a message to her, warning her of Palpatine's plans to dissolve the Senate and crack down on suspected rebel sympathizers.

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', tabloids, which are assumed to be hoaxes by {{muggles}}, are in fact based on true events behind TheMasquerade (since tabloids have less WeirdnessCensor than "serious" newspapers; the ''New York Times'' gets lucky...sometimes). Later, when [[spoiler:agent K retires]], Agent J notices an article with [[spoiler: Agent K's photo and an article about a postal worker who returned to his old job after years in a coma]], revealing [[spoiler: Agent K]]'s fate, which then becomes a major plot point in the second film.
* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', Spock tells Kirk on an open channel, "If we go by the book, hours could seem like days". To anyone else, this might sound like a case of LawfulStupid, but Kirk, who'd been discussing regulations about coded messages with Spock earlier, knows that this means [[spoiler: to decode the next message, replace the word "days" with "hours".]]
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the code that makes River flip out is hidden in an ad spot for Fruity Oaty Bars.
* In ''Film/MercuryRising'', a secret agency publishes messages in secret codes in the puzzles section of newspapers to determine how difficult they are for amateur code crackers. When a nine-year-old autistic boy solves one thought to be particularly secure, conflict ensues between factions with opposing ideas about what to do about it.
* A variation in ''Film/IRobot'' with Dr. Lanning's hologram. It doesn't say much of use while in public, but the whole point was to alert Det. Spooner without anyone else noticing.
** Even more understandable and closer to the trope when you realise that Lanning couldn't simply encode the answers into the hologram because he was being constantly watched at the time, so he encoded the hologram with a "that's the right question" response and had it respond with that whenever Spooner's question indicated he was on the right track to solve the mystery.
* In ''Film/GetSmart'', [[HeelFaceTurn KAOS turncoat]] [[TheDragon Dalip]] is able to tip off Max to Siegfried's plan via a cryptic request on ''Radio/AmericanTop40'', playing on Dalip & Max's shared love of Ryan Seacrest.

* In ''Film/{{Hackers}}'', Crash Override is arrested while holding a floppy disk with important, incriminating information, but manages to slip the disk into a trash bin. When taken outside, he sees his ally Cereal Killer in the crowd and goes off on a rant, ''"They're TRASHING our rights, man! They're TRASHING the flow of data! They're TRASHING!...."'' Cereal gets the message, and is next seen rummaging through the trash bin.
* ''Film/ReservoirDogs'': In the film Mr. Brown explains what he thinks is the hidden message in the lyrics of Music/{{Madonna}}'s song ''Music/LikeAVirgin''.

* ''Film/TheGauntlet'': TheMafia keeps track of TheBet about whether witness Augustina "Gus" Malley will make it to the trial on Phoenix via a made-up horse race and a made-up horse called "Malley No-Show".
* ''Film/WagTheDog'': One part of the story regarding the soldier Schumann ([[InventedIndividual a fake American POW for a fake war in Albania]]) is a photo of him in captivity with his sweater ripped in a pattern that "turns out" to be a Morse Code message saying that he's okay and asking for his mother to stay strong.

* ''Film/TheIpcressFile''. Harry Palmer tries to negotiate a trade with a villain. In reply he's given a flyer with a phone number written on it and told to call at a particular time. Harry however dials the number straight away and is told by the operator that it doesn't exist. Realising he's been fooled, he chases after the villain only to be beaten up by his bodyguard. Harry returns to his boss and admits defeat, whereupon he's told to look at the flyer -- advertising a [[OvertRendezvous public band performance]] where the villain is in fact waiting.
* ''Film/ASimpleFavor'': Stephanie twice uses her vlog to covertly send a message to [[spoiler:Emily. The first time, she makes a vlog about how she feels Emily "isn't truly gone," and how she feels close to Emily, "almost like a twin." Emily, who's watching, immediately realizes that Stephanie knows she's alive, and that she has a twin sister. The second time, Stephanie says that she's going to pay tribute to Emily by going to her grave the next morning to make her favorite drink. Sure enough, Emily shows up at her own grave, finds Stephanie waiting for her, and the two have a little chat.]]

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's novel ''{{Literature/Friday}}''. In Vancouver, Friday is reading the personal ads in a newspaper and sees an ad that says "W.K.-Make your will. You have only a week to live. A.C.B." More than a week later she sees another ad in a Vicksburg, Mississippi newspaper that says "W.K.-Make your will. You have only ten days to live. A.C.B." Her traveling companion Georges realizes that the messages are a code -- the first message meant "number seven" (1 week = 7 days), while the second message meant "number ten".
* SherlockHolmes stories feature multiple examples. Conan Doyle seemed to like this one.
** In "The Adventure of the Red Circle", someone places ads in the London ''Daily Gazette''[='=] "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agony_column agony column]]" to send secret messages.
** "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" also features messages in an agony column as a clue, this time in the ''Daily Telegraph''.
** In "The Adventure of the Dancing Men", a series of dancing stick figures appeared in several locations visible to anyone who passed by. Holmes decides the figures represent letters and decodes the message.

* In the Creator/NgaioMarsh novel ''Death in a White Tie'', one partner in a blackmail scheme sends a coded message to his accomplice via a personal advert in a newspaper: "Childie Darling. Living in exile. Longing. Only want Daughter. Daddy." Taking the first letter of each word yields [[spoiler: C.D. Lie low. D.D. [To]Columbo Dimitri Lie low. [signed] Daniel Davidson]].
* In the ''Literature/YoungBond'' novel ''Literature/DoubleOrDie'', Bond's teacher (who is also a cryptic crossword compiler) is kidnapped. The kidnappers allow him to submit his final crossword as failure to submit it would have alerted people to the fact he was missing. He uses the crossword to conceal clues as to his location.
* Creator/AgathaChristie
** In one book, she wrote of a spy who was behind enemy lines and managed to find a really crucial piece of information but had no way of passing it on, so in the end he sacrificed himself, committing a series of murders and getting convicted -- it seemed like random acts of violence but those who knew he was a spy figured that the victims' personal data was used as a code.
** In one of the Literature/TommyAndTuppence stories, Tommy is able to tell Tuppence "These new clients are suspicious. Contact our police liaison and follow me when I go off with them" right in front of the clients, by disguising it as an order for dinner.
* In John Twelve Hawks' (a {{pseudonym}}) ''Literature/TheFourthRealm'' trilogy, this is how the Harlequins communicate with each other and with Travelers. They leave graffiti or other notes in public places that have easily detectable second meanings decodable only by other Harlequins or Travelers.

* In ''Literature/TheAnubisGates'' by Creator/TimPowers, time travelers in the early 19th century get each other's attentions on busy city streets by whistling [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] songs.
* In ''Literature/TrialByJournal'', Lily sends messages to the presumed dead Perry by calling him 'Hansel" (his character in a play) in the newspaper. In return, he calls her LAW, and sends replies via the painting everyone thinks a gorilla is making. It makes sense in context.
* In Creator/RobertAntonWilson's ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'', a secret society places personal ads reading "In thanks to St. Jude for favors answered -- A.W." as a code to their other members.
* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/ShadowOfTheHegemon'' Petra and Bean communicate by starting an e-mail signature meme: an image file of a dragon with a coded message in it and the words "Share this dragon / If you do / Lucky end for / Them and you", which reference the Dragon Army and Ender Wiggin.

* A variation is used in ''[[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Heir to the Empire]]''. Mara Jade needs to send a message to her boss, Talon Karrde, but there's no way to do so without the message being intercepted by an Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit. Luke Skywalker (who is with her at the time), suggests using a "counterpart encrypt" between his astromech droid (also with them) and his X-wing (in Karrde's possession). The unusual encrypt works; the X-wing's computer decodes the message easily, while everyone else is stumped by it (although the Empire, while unable to ''read'' the message, does at least manage to figure out that the message is ''using'' a counterpart encrypt). While this does leave the Empire suspicious of Karrde, they're not ''that'' suspicious because they know he's a smuggler and his subordinates might have any number of things to say that they'd rather the Empire not know about. The important thing is that it doesn't give them any clue that Karrde was harboring ''Luke Skywalker'', who the Empire desperately wants to capture. Karrde later sends a message back using the same method, via the X-wing.
** There' a different version in the same book; Winter tells Han about Ackbar's 'kids' acting up, and he inquires about the 'neighbors' -- the New Republic [[HangingSeperately politicians]] and the Empire, respectively. Problem is, this wasn't a code that they'd worked out beforehand -- actually, they never worked it out at all. Winter came up with it on the fly because she knew they'd be listened in on, and just hoped Han would be able to work out enough of it to be useful. Han knows Winter means there's been some problems, but not just what they mean. This incident was, bizarrely, a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot. Long before the book was released Creator/TimothyZahn told some trusted friends about it and met them at a convention to discuss it further, only to realize that they were surrounded by scifi geeks who would know what he meant if he started talking about Luke and Leia and Han and Chewie, and then he'd be in trouble. So on the fly he called them Brother, Sister, Friend, and Copilot... and it worked.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/MotherNight'' by Creator/KurtVonnegut works as a radio propagandist for the Nazis in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but he is actually a spy for the Allies. He's given a list of things they want him to find out about the Nazis, and after he finds them out he communicates the answer on his radio show by, say, coughing in the middle of a certain sentence if the answer is "yes" and not coughing if the answer is "no", or by using a certain word he wouldn't otherwise use, etc.

* In ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' VFD members communicate with "Sebald code", in which every eleventh word between two bell rings (or two mentions of bells ringing, if the communication is text-based) is the message. The character of Gustav Sebald, the Volunteer who developed the code, was a famous film director and sent messages with the code in his movies.

* In ''Brotherhood of the Rose'' by David Morrell, a CIA agent is apparently calling his contact via a public phone booth, but is actually reading a line of graffiti written on the wall of the booth as a coded message.

* In the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series personal ads on dating sites are used by several different groups to pass secret messages.

* Blake Neely's score album for the first season of ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' spells a message with the first letter of each track: [[spoiler:RIVERDALEISANORDINARYTOWN]]

* ''The Comiq'': The protagonist, Ryota, discovers that the anonymous background artist for his manga is in fact a man framed and imprisoned for a murder from three years prior. As the prison prohibits this background artist from expressing himself to the outside world in any other way, he has to communicate to Ryota about what he knows about the murder through signs and symbols embedded into Ryota's manga's backgrounds.

* ''{{Anime/Monster}}'': Tenma needed to speak with a former college classmate, so he put an ad in the paper that simply said "Let's discuss our memories of cheating", a reference to a test at medical school that the two happened to discuss the last time they ran into each other.

** [[spoiler: Hawks]] can't directly tell anyone else what he's doing and what's going to go down for fear of being compromised, but is able to give the [[spoiler: #1 Hero, Endeavour,]] the manuscript for the Meta Liberation Army, and tells him to take a look at it sometime, particularly the sections he personally highlighted. [[spoiler: Endeavour [[OutOfCharacterAlert notices something is off about Hawks from his changed demeanour]]]] and reading through the highlighted sections, discovers that the second word of each highlighted section put together assembles a covert message warning him that the endgame approaches.

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': In 1934 Hergé drew a story named ''The Blue Lotus'' in which Tintin travels to China. Hergé's friend, a Chinese foreign exchange student named Zhang Chong Ren told him a lot about Chinese culture and society, including the then current situation in Asia, where Japan had military occupied China. He also wrote all the Chinese signs, billboards, ideograms and texts seen in the backgrounds. As a BilingualBonus only Chinese people could read these. This also might explain why the book wasn't censored from the start because many of these texts are anti-Japanese slogans, like for instance: ''Boycott Japanese products'', ''Abolish unfair treaties'' and ''Down with Imperialism''. Upon realizing the anti-Japanese tone of the story, Japan's diplomats stationed in Belgium issued an official complaint and threatened to take their complaint to the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague. Zhang congratulated Hergé, stating that it would only further expose the actions of Japan in China to further international scrutiny and would make Hergé "world-famous".

* In ''FanFic/PurpleDays'', Joffrey finds a mysterious cypher that he knows for a fact was meant for him and him alone. It turns out to be a double cypher: first, each symbol represents a different letter, correlating to constellations and the different number of stars on each, and the second uses a clue found in Yeen, "everyone but the purple prince steps to the right" - telling Joffrey to move each letter except those in his name one position to the right, finally producing the message.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' theatrical film ''A Man Called Flintstone'': Fred, who has to stand in for an injured spy, is told to find a fellow spy, who will respond to the code phrase "Fifty flying firefighters" with "Bubla." Fred, not really sure how he's supposed to do this covertly and with no clue what this spy looks like, just wanders around saying "Fifty flying firefighters" to everyone he meets whom he doesn't personally know, which only creates strange looks in his direction. When Fred meets a lady who looks sufficiently spy-like and she doesn't respond with the intended phrase (because she isn't a spy), he outright ''tells'' her in frustration, "You're supposed to say 'Bubla'!" [[spoiler:Fred DOES eventually find the spy, but by then, he's too frustrated to say "Fifty flying firefighters" to anyone anymore, and the spy has to coax that phrase out of Fred.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': In 1934 Hergé drew a story named ''The Blue Lotus'' in which Tintin travels to China. Hergé's friend, a Chinese foreign exchange student named Zhang Chong Ren told him a lot about Chinese culture and society, including the then current situation in Asia, where Japan had military occupied China. He also wrote all the Chinese signs, billboards, ideograms and texts seen in the backgrounds. As a BilingualBonus only Chinese people could read these. This also might explain why the book [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar wasn't censored]] from the start because many of these texts are anti-Japanese slogans, like for instance: ''Boycott Japanese products'', ''Abolish unfair treaties'' and ''Down with Imperialism''. Upon realizing the anti-Japanese tone of the story, Japan's diplomats stationed in Belgium issued an official complaint and threatened to take their complaint to the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague. Zhang congratulated Hergé, stating that it would only further expose the actions of Japan in China to further international scrutiny and would make Hergé "world-famous".

* Blake Neely's score album for the first season of ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' spells a message with the first letter of each track. [[https://twitter.com/cowonthewall/status/904999463558594560 Go here to see what it is.]]

* This occurs twice shortly apart regarding the same event in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', specifically [[spoiler: the secret investigation involving the ReverseMole, Hawks, who has infiltrated the [[LegionOfDoom League of Villains]] and discovered they have massively swelled their numbers by taking over the Meta Liberation Army and now have the strength necessary to take on ''all the heroes'' and destroy Japan]]. The public safety commission can't let anyone know about any of this for fear of moles in their own ranks, but the fact something big is going down behind the scenes does unofficially find its way out.

* ''Series/Lucifer2016'': In "Recap/Lucifer2016S04E05ExpireErect", there is a hostage situation at Lux, a nightclub owned by the titular Lucifer. While he is incapacitated by an injury, the hostage taker gets his food delivered, but it is the wrong sandwich. Detective Dan Espinoza, who is lead outside, didn't make a mistake, but is using the sandwich to send a warning to Detective Chloe, one of the other hostages. [[spoiler:The sandwich is a southwestern-style from a restaurant called Luis. Dan's message to Chloe is that SWAT will breach the room from the ''southwestern'' corner of the room]].

* Many rock bands have been accused by MoralGuardians of putting hidden messages in their album covers or the lyrics of their songs, some of which would only be deciphered if you played the records backwards. Music/TheBeatles are the most famous example. Though sometimes these hidden messages were clearly intended by the artists themselves, others were nothing more than extremely far-fetched fan theories.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3E had a skill called "Innuendo" for this exact purpose. It was removed in 3.5E (folding it into the "Bluff" skill), presumably, because it was [[UselessUsefulNonCombatAbilities too specific to be worth spending skill points on]].

* Blake Neely's score album for the first season of ''Series/{{Riverdale}'' spells a message with the first letter of each track. [[https://twitter.com/cowonthewall/status/904999463558594560 Go here to see what it is.]]

** An odd-looking [[http://theunexplainedmysteries.com/Deadly-Double-Pearl-harbor.html advert for the dice game "Deadly Double"]] had gotten the FBI suspicious, as it had all the trappings of a PublicSecretMessage announcing the Pearl Harbor attack. It was apparently just a coincidence, though.

* ''Series/{{Batman}}'': In one episode, Batman talks to one of the villains over a broadcast radio station, but requests that all other citizens of Gotham switch off to avoid hearing his private message. Naturally they oblige.

* Similar to the above, when the crew of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_%28AGER-2%29 USS]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_%28AGER-2%29 Pueblo]]'' was captured by the North Koreans in international waters, the Koreans distributed a picture of the crew to show that [[BlatantLies they were well cared for during their stay]]. Looking closely, several crew members [[FlippingTheBird appear to disagree]].
* One method of contacting 911 regarding domestic abuse or violence is to call the number and pretend to be ordering a pizza, as depicted in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z_zWIVRIWk this commercial]]. In the ad, a woman remarks that she wants to place an order; the dispatcher asks if she knows she's calling 911, and she responds "Yes." She's then able to communicate her address and the fact that she's in danger to the man on the line, who sends help.
* The crew of the USS ''Pueblo'', captured by North Koreans, and their "[[http://web.archive.org/web/20071204163149/http://www.usspueblo.org/v2f/captivity/goodluck.html Hawaiian Good Luck Sign]]".
* A captured [[UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar Korean War]] commander, forced into a confession, gave this: "We paean the great state of UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and its leader." "Paean" is [[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paean a real word]], so the North Koreans were able to look it up and confirm its meaning, but it's pronounced very similarly to "pee on", which the North Koreans didn't catch.

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', Agent K explains that tabloids, which are assumed to be hoaxes by {{muggles}}, are in fact based on true events behind TheMasquerade (since tabloids have less WeirdnessCensor than "serious" newspapers). Later, when [[spoiler:agent K retires]], Agent J notices an article with [[spoiler: Agent K's photo and an article about a postal worker who returned to his old job after years in a coma]], revealing [[spoiler: Agent K]]'s fate, which then becomes a major plot point in the second film.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]]: The Doctor records a message that a DVD publisher he befriends adds as an EasterEgg on some very specific [=DVDs=] (corresponding to the entire DVD collection of one character) decades later. It makes no sense whatsoever, until late in the episode where it's revealed to be TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: The character's reactions to the scene form a perfectly cohesive conversation with the Doctor (who has a transcript of her reactions) regarding the TARDIS and the Weeping Angels.