History Main / TalkingThroughTechnique

* ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novels have Duke Hassid Ricol do this ''constantly'' as an affectation for his various plans involving [[AncientConspiracy The Black Dragon Society]]. He almost always meets with other members in public parks on various worlds in the Draconis Combine, always seemingly playing ''shogi'' by himself. Casual observers would think him the equivalent of an eccentric chess master. However, his fellow Black Dragon compatriots can read his boards and discern how their plans are proceeding by the location and arrangement of pieces (for instance, an exposed and vastly out-of-position general threatened by a flank attack of enemy knights or lances could describe an impending assassination attempt).

* In ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' Bloo's idiotic antics land him in the care of a heartless producer that keeps him in a cage and uses Bloo's convenient shape to promote Deo Brand Deodorant. During a huge promotional show, Bloo tries to communicate with his friends using various methods including Tap dancing in Morse Code. It's Mac, who is all of eight years old, [[HiddenDepths that correctly deciphers and responds to the message]].

Compare HandSignals, where signaling is done by use of hand gestures, and DoubleMeaning. Subtrope of PublicSecretMessage. Also see MultitaskedConversation, DeceptionNoncompliance and CovertDistressCode. Contrast IDoNotSpeakNonverbal.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim Drake did likewise while he and Cass were working together to take down Penguin in Bludhaven, but he was much less certain of his own ability to read her actions and second guessed himself a lot. He did figure out she liked sweets and long showers from her taking all his rice crispies and coming to his place to use the shower for hours on end without though. By the time he's ComicBook/RedRobin, Cass is the Batman's sidekick he trusts the easiest and asks along if he wants someone to work with.

* In ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'', the members of the Second Foundation have developed a method of nonverbal communication which allows them to "speak" through imperceptible changes in expression and body language that nobody but them can even notice, let alone understand. It's effectively telepathy, and to the outside observer their meetings look like a group of men sitting in a room perfectly silent and seemingly totally still.

'''Kenny''': ''([[SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage in Cantonese]])'' Master Ching taught me.\\

* Subverted in the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "Bohemian Rhapsody". The crew of the Bebop thought that the chess pieces they found on apprehended thieves might hold some secret message, but they were merely a signal from the mastermind to his former employers that it was he who was pulling the jobs. He had a reputation as a chess lover.

[[folder:CardGames]]

* According to the "Hawaii 2.0" arc in the ComicBook/WildCATsWildStorm comics, the Coda have a martial art that doubles as a language. Zealot and Nemesis use it to talk past an immortal madman with microscopic vision and superhearing.

* Played with in a game of shogi between Shikamaru and his father Shikaku in [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4991314/1/Escape_from_the_Hokages_Hat Escape from the Hokage's Hat]]. Shikamaru plays according to no conventional defensive prescription, but instead plays each of his pieces as one of his age group against his father's remainder of the Konoha ninja. After the game, Shikaku notices that while his position is technically weak, he's put all of his pieces in position to assassinate most of Shikaku's--which is, correctly, taken as a declaration of allegiance for Naruto and the second generation against the older shinobi, who mostly hate him.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' ParodyFic "The Killer Dame", Tuvok and Seven of Nine communicate while held prisoner via the FascinatingEyebrow trope.
-->The young Borg realised that Tuvok was inquiring if she was all right. Seven quirked her ocular implant in reply, conveying that such a question was irrelevant and she was currently trying to free her bonds. Tuvok raised his other eyebrow, conveying his disapproval at the emotion of arrogance that might distract one from the task at hand. Seven answered with a scowl, conveying that she was experiencing some difficulty with the knots but she was Borg and would adapt, and that she would be as arrogant as she wished thank you! Tuvok took a deep breath, dropped his eyebrows to normal level, then raised first the right brow, then the left brow, then both brows together, then the left, then the right brow, two raises of the left again, then a wiggle of his pointed ears, then a slight twitch of his right brow again, and last of all a final poetic dance of supercilious motion by the two hairy arches.

-->'''Li''': Where did you learn that?
-->'''Kenny''': [''[[SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage in Cantonese]]''] Master Ching taught me.
-->'''Li''': [''in Cantonese''] Master Ching from Beijing?!
-->'''Kenny''': [''in Cantonese''] No... Freddy Ching from Crenshaw.
-->'''Li''': [''In English''] Oh! They're brothers!

* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse
** The technique-plus-normal-speech version shows up in the short story "Fool's Bargain". A squad of Imperial troops, trying to help overthrow a corrupt warlord with the help of the local population, work out a TrojanPrisoner ploy with a militia group. To communicate with one another in front of the enemy, they alternate truthful and lying statements, using a code to tell the others which is which.
** The Echani view combat as a form of communication, and have elaborate forms of ritual combat for everything, including courtship rituals.
** The Lorridians are descendants of a human colony that had been taken over by ScaryDogmaticAliens, who did not allow groups to speak to one another (as to prevent a [[SlaveLiberation slave revolt]]). As a result, the Lorridians developed an elaborate form of body language communication to skirt around the restrictions, ran ScaryDogmaticAliens off their planets, and their culture produces some of the finest actors and spies in the galaxy due to their mastery of reading and communicating through body language.
* Twi’leks use their head tails or lekku for this. Owners of Twi’lek slaves sometimes put restraints on the lekku to prevent it.
* Creator/SpiderRobinson's short story "Tin Ear" involves two men in remote solar outposts who, upon being captured by an alien and learning that their communication is monitored, continue their exchange of song snippets, but now with embedded clues in the titles of the pieces.
* In the Exordium series by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge, a group of prisoners use subtle hand gestures to indicate which of the many words they are saying are actually significant, thus allowing them to carry on two parallel conversations. Shortly afterwards, one of the prisoners gets to communicate with someone on the outside, with the resulting conversation using both this technique and one built around understanding obscure allusions. Actually, a lot of the conversations throughout the series involve obscure allusions that only some of the listeners are expected to get.

* ''Literature/CodexAlera'', being an endless GambitPileup between [[TheChessmaster Chessmasters]] and {{Manipulative Bastard}}s of varying competence, has a fair number of messages being hidden inside actions. It's particularly pronounced with the Canim, who even in face-to-face conversations rely much more on body language and non-verbal communication than humans do, and in ''Captain's Fury'' Tavi tries to explain Nasaug's indications that [[spoiler: he actually wants to take his invading troops and leave Alera]] to [[SmugSnake senator Arnos]] without success.

* [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]]'s [[Literature/TheCulture Culture]] novel ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'' contains a rather interesting take on the concept. Throughout the story, the main character Gurgeh participates in a number of games, but the readers are only given hints as to the rules and play of each of them. This is particularly true of the game of Azad, which is considered complicated and realistic enough that success in the game is literally equal to success in the Empire of Azad, where the routine tournaments function as a civil service exam. When Gurgeh plays Azad, particularly during his last game, he and his opponent are described as conveying so much information via their moves that their entire philosophies are discussed without a word being exchanged.
** In ''The Algebraist'', a spy communicates with her contact (who is also her lover) by tapping out a message on his body while they are in bed under the sheets.
* In Creator/JimButcher's Literature/DresdenFiles series, the novel ''Skin Game'' has a brilliant example of this. Harry has to fulfill a high profile heist due to a favor Mab owed [[spoiler:Nicodemeus]] even though the employer is able to literally overhear everything Harry says during the operation, and wants nothing more than to see Harry dead "by accident." With Mab's approval, they set up the covert communication method where Harry can communicate with an undercover associate in plain sight.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story ''Literature/{{Gulf}}'' has two supergenius spies locked in a monitored cell communicate through a game of cards (with the card values corresponding to letters of the alphabet). The very first message is a warning that they're being watched.
* Subverted in Creator/TadWilliams ''Literature/{{Otherland}}''. Mr. Sellars, who is kept prisoner in a government GildedCage, has a play by letter chess partner. His captors spent weeks trying to crack the code in the letters and moves, because he seriously ''is'' that intelligent. However their messages were actually contained in a packet of nanomachines in the final period.
** There's also !Xabbu's and Martine's string game (basically a Bushman version of cat's cradle), which is a particularly strange example. The characters were perfectly capable of talking to each other, but had each had very different insights into the system that were difficult to describe in words (Martine, as a blind person in a VR simulation, was basically "seeing" code, while !Xabbu had made some kind of mystical connection with the AI running the place). They weren't able to compare notes in English, but using the string game, they could. It's also an unusual example in that they WEREN'T both experts -- !Xabbu had to teach Martine the game as they went. Apparently it still worked better than talking.

%%* There was an ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode where people were communicating in code through a MMORPG or something; they managed to crack part of it, but didn't crack it all perfectly and accidentally ordered a hit on someone while trying to arrange a meeting.

-->'''The Doctor''': There is just one thing you've forgotten.
-->'''Emma''': What?
-->'''The Doctor''': Daleks don't have noses.
-->'''Emma''': Scraping the barrel a bit there, aren't you?
-->'''The Doctor''': Think, my dear! Back on Tersurus, TheMaster and I both bribed the castle architect. Not only do I speak perfect Tersuran, so does he.
-->'''Emma''': You mean...?
-->'''The Doctor''': Yes! I can communicate with the Master by carefully controlled breaking of wind.
-->'''Emma''': Could I be tied to a different chair?

* The ''Series/{{Covert Affairs}}'' episode ''Horse to Water'' used the standard Chess version: an ex-CIA operative imprisoned for a decade used a slow chess game to get secrets outside to be sold. Played with slightly in that the daughter he was playing with just thought she was playing chess with her wrongly-accused father: he kept the game in his head, but she kept its state on a board in her house, which his ''other'' daughter was reading for its secrets.

-->'''Edea Lee:''' For ''three days and nights?''
-->'''Mahzer Lee:''' I suppose it's no wonder people thought it was a duel.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, believes in the ability to express oneself with the piano. After hearing [[spoiler:Izuru Kamukura]] play, she notes that his piece is very good, but is a bit disappointed that he isn't really expressing himself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' Bloo's idiotic antics land him in the care of a heartless producer that keeps him in a cage and uses Bloo's convenient shape to promote Deo Brand Deodorant. During a huge promotional show, Bloo tries to communicate with his friends using various methods including Tap dancing in Morse Code. It's Mac, who is all of eight years old [[HiddenDepths that correctly deciphers and responds to the message.]]

* In Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar, a bunch of bad guys threaten to kill a captured Airi and Mamiya if Kenshiro and Rei don't fight to the death. With no means of communication, Kenshiro and Rei engage each other, ending in a seemingly MutualKill, but when the bad guys go closer inspect their corpses, the heroes reveal they're very much alive. The finishing blows they had used on each other seemed brutal, but were specifically designed not to kill, and the reason why both heroes knew to use their respective techniques was because [[GeniusBruiser Kenshiro]] went into his move's fighting stance, which a skilled martial artist like Rei would have recognized. When Rei went into his own technique's fighting stance, he essentially confirmed their plan with neither fighter having to say a word, and the rest was just waiting for the bad guys to get cocky and come closer for the two to start exploding their heads.
* Subverted in the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "Bohemian Rhapsody". The crew of the Bebop thought that the chess pieces they found on apprehended thieves might hold some secret message, but they were merely a signal from the mastermind to his former employers that it was he who was pulling the jobs. He had a reputation as a chess lover.
* Invoked in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' when Sasuke fights the title character. Sasuke says that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours two powerful ninja]] are able to understand each other's thoughts just by fighting.

* ''{{Manga/Saki}}'' seeks to reconcile with her older sister Teru, but their parents are separated, [[SolomonDivorce with each of them in the custody of a different parent]], and Teru refuses to speak with Saki. Saki then comes up with the goal of "talking" with Teru through mahjong, hoping to face her in a mahjong tournament and get her to talk with her again.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'' when it's revealed Piffany can receive and interpret entire speeches from Nodwick, based entirely on various expressions of despair in his face and angling of eyebrows.

* In ''Film/RedCliff'' the two strategists talked through playing music together and in fact the most vital question of their whole meeting was asked and answered this way. "We're leaving? We didn't get the answer." "It was in his music."
* The twist at the end of Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' is that the lady in question is a spy. Her secret message is encoded as a song melody. [[McGuffin We are never told what it means.]]
* In ''Film/OceansTwelve'', Danny Ocean and Rusty are speaking in code to Robbie Coltraine's character and it's played for laughs when Matt Damon's character doesn't get it.
* ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''; according to ExpandedUniverse sources, [[AllThereInTheManual this is how]] Padme Amidala communicates her orders to Sabe, her decoy bodyguard. When Padme poses as a handmaiden, a subtle system of body language lets the two communicate in code.
* In ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'', Jack Ryan communicates with Soviet Captain Marko Ramius by using Morse code in flashing lights attached to their periscope. Since Marko couldn't respond with Morse code (the code would be recognized audibly by the crew of his ship if he tapped it out), they resorted to yes/no questions he could answer by sending a sonic range verification 'ping' to the US sub.
** This ''almost'' backfires, as Marko asks for a single ranging active sonar ping on the US ship, which is the submarine equivalent of pointing a flashlight in someone's eyes and shouting "Here I am!". And then he does it ''again'', without any explanation. Fortunately, the perplexed officer carrying out the order is his executive officer and in on the defection conspiracy.

* A minor scene in ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'' shows Jack Ryan and other CIA analysts looking at satellite photographs of Russian tanks, still parked at their bases despite recent events that should have resulted in their mobilization. Jack theorises that the fact that the tanks haven't moved is a message from the Russian President, firstly affirming that he does not have warlike intentions, and secondly quietly stating that he did ''not'' order the recent attacks.

* The Drasnian secret language, of the ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad Belgariad]]'', by Creator/DavidEddings. All Drasnians involved in the intelligence community (which apparently means [[CityOfSpies all of them]]) are taught a language. On more than one occasion, two such speakers converse verbally about something unimportant while having a completely separate discussion with their hands. The language is specific enough that a speaker can gesture with a recognizably outlandish "accent", and that a particular tilt of the hands can indicate [[SarcasmMode sarcasm]].
* Subverted in Creator/TadWilliams ''Literature/{{Otherland}}''. Mr. Sellars, who is kept prisoner in a government GildedCage, has a play by letter chess partner. His captors spent weeks trying to crack the code in the letters and moves, because he seriously ''is'' that intelligent. However their messages were actually contained in a packet of nanomachines in the final period.
** There's also !Xabbu's and Martine's string game (basically a Bushman version of cat's cradle), which is a particularly strange example. The characters were perfectly capable of talking to each other, but had each had very different insights into the system that were difficult to describe in words (Martine, as a blind person in a VR simulation, was basically "seeing" code, while !Xabbu had made some kind of mystical connection with the AI running the place). They weren't able to compare notes in English, but using the string game, they could. It's also an unusual example in that they WEREN'T both experts -- !Xabbu had to teach Martine the game as they went. Apparently it still worked better than talking.
* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse

* In the short story "Down on the Farm" of Creator/CharlesStross's ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' series, the titular "funny farm" is an asylum for genius-level civil servants working in [[TheMenInBlack the Laundry]]. Since their service deals with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s on a regular basis, an insane necromantic scientist is a [[OhCrap bit]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt of]] [[ApocalypseHow a]] [[ZombieApocalypse security]] [[GrandTheftMe risk]]; hence the building is sealed off tight from the outside world and insulated in every form imaginable. Communications with the outside world tend to be on the imaginative side. [[spoiler:Because of the insulation, the Farm is also a good place for secret research -- since banging away on computers is a bit on the obvious side and a big security risk, the scientists "program" with a chessboard, chess pieces, and a language made of chess moves. Hidden, but very clever.]]
* In ''Literature/ForgottenRealms: The Sorceror'' a spellcaster who could not use magic at this time suspected the presence of an invisible enemy. He moved his fingers through the [[MagicalGesture somatic components]] of a spell he wanted until a wizard looking at him understood and cast it.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story ''Literature/{{Gulf}}'' has two supergenius spies locked in a monitored cell communicate through a game of cards (with the card values corresponding to letters of the alphabet). The very first message is a warning that they're being watched.
* In one of ''Literature/TheVampireFiles'', Gordy wordlessly coaches Jack through a conversation with a rival gang boss by playing a round of solitaire, in which he makes legal or illegal moves depending on whether or not Jack's words are the right ones to mollify the rival.
* [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]]'s [[Literature/TheCulture Culture]] novel ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'' contains a rather interesting take on the concept. Throughout the story, the main character Gurgeh participates in a number of games, but the readers are only given hints as to the rules and play of each of them. This is particularly true of the game of Azad, which is considered complicated and realistic enough that success in the game is literally equal to success in the Empire of Azad, where the routine tournaments function as a civil service exam. When Gurgeh plays Azad, particularly during his last game, he and his opponent are described as conveying so much information via their moves that their entire philosophies are discussed without a word being exchanged.
** In ''The Algebraist'', a spy communicates with her contact (who is also her lover) by tapping out a message on his body while they are in bed under the sheets.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames:'' Katniss gets very good at reading Haymitch's hidden messages from what sorts of things he sends her in the arena, and the ''timing'' of some of them. Since this would be difficult to convey in a medium where you can't read Katniss' every thought, in the movie Haymitch includes literal notes.

* In the ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' story "Master Blankard's Pawn", Blankard communicates to one of his henchmen from inside jail by using a code consisting of chess moves.
* In Creator/JimButcher's Literature/DresdenFiles series, the novel ''Skin Game'' has a brilliant example of this. Harry has to fulfill a high profile heist due to a favor Mab owed [[spoiler:Nicodemeus]] even though the employer is able to literally overhear everything Harry says during the operation, and wants nothing more than to see Harry dead "by accident." With Mab's approval, they set up the covert communication method where Harry can communicate with an undercover associate in plain sight.

* In ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'', the members of the Second Foundation have developed a method of nonverbal communication which allows them to "speak" through imperceptible changes in expression and body language that nobody but them can even notice, let alone understand. It's effectively telepathy, and to the outside observer their meetings look like a group of men sitting in a room perfectly silent and seemingly totally still.

* In an episode of ''[[Series/{{Mash}} M*A*S*H]]'', Hawkeye is sent to a frontline aid station, then the Army loses radio contact with them after receiving a report that a doctor there has been killed. The rest of the 4077th is concerned, until B.J. receives a patient from the aid station who has been sewn up using a technique that is specifically Hawkeye's style.

* In an episode of the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' reboot, Starbuck is flying a Cylon ship and has to communicate with the human pilots that she's friendly using only her piloting. After evading their initial fire, she falls into battle formation with one of the ships. Once they start to get the hint, she dips her wings back and forth, a traditional pilot salute, to further confirm that she's a friendly.
** This is a nod to an episode in the original series, where Starbuck and Apollo were tasked with attacking the Cylons with a hijacked Cylon Raider and then returning to the Galactica. Starbuck makes an offhand comment to Boomer about "waggling his wings" if the coded transponder they took with them failed, and having lost the transponder during the operation, he waggled his wings to signal the Galactica not to shoot them down.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' Bloo's idiotic antics land him in the care of a heartless producer that keeps him in a cage and uses Bloo's convenient shape to promote Deo Brand Deodorant. During a huge promotional show, Bloo tries to communicate with his friends using various methods including Tap dancing in Morse Code. It's Mac, who is all of eight years old [[HiddenDepths that correctly deciphers and responds to the message.]]

* There was an ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode where people were communicating in code through a MMORPG or something; they managed to crack part of it, but didn't crack it all perfectly and accidentally ordered a hit on someone while trying to arrange a meeting.

* According to the "Hawaii 2.0" arc in the ComicBook/WildCATs comics, the Coda have a martial art that doubles as a language. Zealot and Nemesis use it to talk past an immortal madman with microscopic vision and superhearing.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story ''Literature/{{Gulf}}'' has two supergenius spies locked in a monitored cell communicate through a game of cards.

Compare HandSignals, where signaling is done by use of hand gestures, and DoubleMeaning. Also see MultitaskedConversation, DeceptionNoncompliance and CovertDistressCode. Contrast IDoNotSpeakNonverbal.

Naturally, if the signal is misinterpreted due to a completely irrelevant misunderstanding of [[ConvictionByContradiction chess rules or somesuch]], this may result in the whole "conversation" being misunderstood. An especially devious communicator may [[OutGambitted anticipate this]] and deliberately send out a clue indicating [[KansasCityShuffle that he is not at liberty to communicate freely]].

Compare HandSignals, where signaling is done by use of hand gestures, and DoubleMeaning. Also see MultitaskedConversation. Contrast IDoNotSpeakNonverbal.

* In an episode of ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' a kidnapped composer leaves behind a peice of sheet music that doesn't sound right. When converted into letter notation, it spells out the kidnapper's name.

* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' can sometimes do this with the AI. A friendly AI makes suddenly one sided demands of you? They want war. The AI might do a show of force of troops along your boarder. A particularly clever move is for the AI to send a message demanding you withdraw your troops from their boarders. Agreeing to will appease them... for now, as you don't have to do it. Unlike other requests, you cannot brush them off... you must declare war. The resulting XanatosGambit unfolds for the AI:
** Agree and withdraw your troops: The AI is under no pressure to demilitarize their side of the boarder and you are bound to keep troops away for 30 turns, a tactical victory for them.

* ''Film/{{Bat 21}}'' staring Gene Hackman, was based on a real life rescue in which a downed pilot's knowledge of golf was used to give him directions when he was TrappedBehindEnemyLines -- the directions matched the layout of various golf courses he had played.

* In ''VisualNovel/NewDanganronpaV3'', Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, believes in the ability to express oneself with the piano. After hearing [[spoiler:Izuru Kamukura]] play, she notes that his piece is very good, but is a bit disappointed that he isn't really expressing himself.