Linakran Wizard Slang

Created so the birds can purple the weather and get back to the cat rather than die in the squeaky.

Linakran wizard slang was developed by members of Kel's Rebellion to allow them to communicate in locations which might be unsafe for wizards. The system works as follows: an important word is rhymed with the final word of a new phrase. Then all of the phrase but the first word are omitted. In some areas, the new word is put into other phrases, creating additional layers of coding.
As an example: the word "safehouse" gets turned into "cat and mouse" because mouse and house rhyme. Then all but the first word is eliminated, meaning the word cat actually means safehouse. Therefore, a sentence like, "there's a cat in the next town over," actually means there is a safehouse in the next town over.
The following are several common words which are part of this code:

original word	rhyming phrase	final code word
safehouse	cat and mouse	cat
meeting	Autun greeting	Autun
soldier	weather's getting colder	weather
mage	bird in a cage	bird
magic	the play was tragic	play
Keevael's Machine	squeaky clean	squeaky
prison	the sun is risen	sun
escape	purple grape	purple
Sparrow	bow and arrow	bow
owl (a member of Kel's Rebellion)	a dog's howl	dog
daffodil	pelican bill	pelican

The purpose of the slang is to make outsiders think the subject of conversation is mundane or that the speaker has had a slip of the tongue, and therefore to avoid suspicion.

Variations

Though the basic code words are generally the same, regional variations on the way in which they are used can be found throughout Linakra.

Full Phrases

In some areas, the end of the phrase is not omitted. This is most common when there is a syntactic connection, as well as a phonological connection between the original phrase and the code phrase. For example, if someone has been imprisoned for working magic, they might be described with the full phrase, "bird in a cage," rather than the more standard, "bird in the sun." Or someone might use the whole phrase, "weather's getting colder" to indicate a soldier is nearby.

New Phrases

Because the use of the code words can create very nonsensical sentences (consider, "I know a bird who can teach you play. He lives at the cat on the other side of town"), some areas have created new phrases around the code words to draw less attention to their usage. For example, "I often see cats around that house," indicates a safehouse and "flying toward the sun," indicates plans for a prison breakout.

Double Coding

To help maintain secrecy and prevent their code from being understood, members of Kel's Rebellion will further code words which already function as code-words. For example, the slang term "bow" translates to "sparrow," which is what people within the military branch of the rebellion are called.

Compounding Rhymes

In some cases, a code word which has already been created through rhyme will be rhymed again. For example, the code word for "magic" is "play," from the phrase, "the play was tragic." In some areas, the word play has been rhymed again, in the phrase, "dropped into the fray," making "drop" a second code word for magic. These kind of additional rhyming structures are commonly used in areas where outsiders, especially government officials seem to be developing an understanding for the language. Because the slang is based on rhyme, members of the rebellion have the ability to continue to compound rhymes on top of each other as a way of constantly shifting the code words to prevent understanding from outsiders.

Speaking Kelani

In her play Vanishing in the City, playwright Gloria Pascek created a side character named Kalani, who frequently used the wrong word in a sentence, to great comedic affect. Though Kelani does not actually use wizard slang, Pascek said later that the character was inspired by a friend who "made many such mistakes." It is likely that this person used wizard slang, though Pascek was unaware.
Due to the play's popularity, slips of the tongue are often referred to as "speaking Kelani." The phrase has been lovingly adopted by Kel's Rebellion due to the similar names of the character and the organization's founder.

by Vidar Nordli

What's up with all the birds?

Kel's Rebellion often uses the image of birds flying from captivity, thus the use of bird imagery (such as sparrows and owls) are common. This is also likely the reason for the use of "bird" as a code word for mage, when potentially any animal could be put in a cage.