Codewords for work

[Jade Pheonix]

Does anyone else here have a certain lingo used at work that management and customers don't understand. Like a language only employees can understand that often confuse and baffle others.

For and example, at my store, you might hear a employee shouting " We have a code magenta in dog toys" . You wouldn't know, unless you worked there, that the employee was really saying " I think I see someone shoplifting over at the doy toys."

So what codewords do you have and what do they mean? Here are some more from my work, the situtations they're used in, and what exactly they mean.


" Cockroach! Cockroach!" - when a manager is near a group of talking employees- translation: " Scatter, a manager is coming!"

" Marco!" - a employee doesn't know where her/his work partner is- translation " Where are you, partner?"

"Polo!" - a work partner responding to 'Marco'- tranlation: "I'm right here."

" Code yellow!" - when a employee sees dog pee on the floor- translation " I need a mop over here!"

"And really bad eggs." (singing) - there is a disruptive or destructive child running wild in the store- translation: " Please, for the love of all that is holy, get that kid outta here!"

" Code forest green!" - when a cashier has a potential SC who might hold up their line- translation: "Someone ring up all the other customers, this idiot might take awhile to get rid of."

[lordlundar]

Code Orange - Fight breaking out in the store.

The funny thing is that code usually means radioactive/biohazard threat.

[Fera Festiva]

I briefly worked at a department store. In the unlikely event of, say, a bomb threat occuring, there were a bunch of codes we were meant to use. Most of them were nondescript so I can't remember them now, but I do remember the code for "everything is fine, there's no bomb", which was "Attention all staff. The sun is shining."

So, of course, the one time there was any kind of danger (hoax bomb threat during the 1990s - this is before I worked there) - it was pouring with rain, so the announcement made no sense. This freaked the customers out even more and they all fled.

[SteverinoNY]

There's only one I know from the supermarket I work at.

"Code 86"

Translation: The manager has opened the dumpster. All departments bring your trash back here ASAP.

The customers have no idea what that means and I'd really love to have all my co-workers in on a prank to hit the deck when they call that code to freak out the customers.

[Kitten in the box]

at my store I had a buddy who when he saw a pretty woman would say "we have a 54 on aisle 10, please check the temp of the freezerbox." That meant 'pretty lady on ailse 10 check her out.' all employees; women included would go and check her out and see if she was 'date material' for this guy.

[Rapscallion]

Sounds like he gets on well with the ladies at your place. Why haven't any of them snatched up this obviously marvellous dating opportunity?

Rapscallion, only slightly ironic

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

at my store I had a buddy who when he saw a pretty woman would say "we have a 54 on aisle 10, please check the temp of the freezerbox." That meant 'pretty lady on ailse 10 check her out.' all employees; women included would go and check her out and see if she was 'date material' for this guy.

We used to call that a "code star".

Code Brown=fecal matter on the floor, or a disgusting restroom

[thegiraffe]

The stock boys have this thing called an OTCD - on the clock dump. They all talk about how much time they've wasted (they shoot for about 30 mins or so). Whenever I hear a conversation that mentions an OTCD, I run. Fast. I DON'T want to know about their excretory habits.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The stock boys have this thing called an OTCD - on the clock dump. They all talk about how much time they've wasted (they shoot for about 30 mins or so). Whenever I hear a conversation that mentions an OTCD, I run. Fast. I DON'T want to know about their excretory habits.

Where do you work that people can waste that much time?

If somebody at my store tried that, the managers wouldn't have any of it. We are all overworked and running around, being as short-staffed as we usually are.

[thegiraffe]

A grocery store. The grocery department has....lax management. Because they're all spread out around the store, it's hard to keep tabs on everyone.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Well, I have a bathroom story too.

Three years ago, we hired this guy as a seasonal teammate working in the backroom. He turned out to be the absolute worst, bottom-of-the-barrel employee I have ever worked with. He stood around and let everybody else do all the work, he liked to disappear for lengthy periods of time, he acted like he was too good for anybody else, and he once started a fight with another employee by bragging he was getting, ummmm, certain favors from the co-workers little sister.

One night we were all unloading the truck and sucky cow-irker says he's going to, ahem, go potty and he'll be back shortly. We say okay and he leaves.

30 minutes later, he's nowhere to be found. We call the manager on duty and ask him to go find sucky cow-irker and send him back to the backroom.

The manager checks the mens room first, and sucky cow-irker is not there. Eventually, he finds sucky cow-irker back by the fitting rooms, on the other side of the store from the backroom, chatting up one of the girls working back there.

Needless to say, he was sent packing after the holidays.

[dougiezerts]

There's lots of slang used by my company! Some examples:
SA--Service Assistant (for all the difficult/stupid/nasty SC's!)
Surplus--They aren't so busy, so they let some people have time off the board. It can range from 15 minutes, to the whole day.
MAP--Getting another job in the company. (I forget what it technically stands for.)
V Day--Vacation Day--bliss!
CST--Customer Service Time. It's always too high for the managers!

[ladyklack]

Our code word for theif is 'gypsy'
not only is that kinda transparent but also (not that I care) PC incorrect

Incidently I've never used this code, but I have been known to yell in my socially awkward way, hey *co-worker* go follow that guy around the store, he looks sketchy. ( I really have no suaveness or subtlety sometimes)

[Tanasi]

When we see the boss coming down the hill to our office we call out "Reaper Alert". He drives a black Surburban. If we see his wife's car it's a "Reapette Alert". His secretary is a "Code Blue" as she has blue hair and the admin-asst is a "Code Fro" because her hair is so teased it's become an alfro.
We have "John Day" named for a guy that used to come in late, take a long lunch and leave early. "Jack Day" is the day before vacation and you're going to leave a little early, you tell the boss around 3 but really leave at 11. You've been "Butlered" when someone installs untested buggy software on a mail server. "There's been a ladding" means someone has changed the network and didn't test it first.

[Banrion]

At the movie theatre, we called Code Bambi over the radios whenever we found a lost kid.