Learn the lingo

What is a Code Green in a supermarket? Let's decode 10 secret store calls

Ever heard a mysterious "Code Yellow" or "Code 50" over a store loudspeaker and wondered if you should keep shopping or head for the exit? Retailers use coded announcements to communicate quickly without broadcasting every detail to customers. There’s no universal codebook, so the meanings can change from one chain to another, and some operational codes even vary by location. Here are 10 codes you might hear while shopping and what they can mean.

At Walmart, hearing "Code Black" isn't a commentary on the day's sales. Company emergency documentation identifies it as the warning for severe weather, alerting employees that potentially dangerous conditions require attention.

That might mean the sort of storm that makes staying inside safer than heading for the parking lot. Walmart's documented emergency vocabulary also assigns other colors to specific dangers, allowing employees to quickly recognize the nature of a situation quickly without a lengthy announcement.

Orange has a very different meaning in Walmart's emergency system. Company documentation identifies Code Orange as a chemical spill or hazardous materials incident, a situation in which employees may need to secure an area and follow special safety procedures.

That's particularly relevant in a giant retailer selling everything from household cleaners to automotive products. So if you hear the mysterious phrase while debating which detergent to buy, it isn't necessarily time to panic, but employees nearby may suddenly have something more pressing to handle.

At Target, Code Yellow is associated with a missing child. Employee accounts describe it as an announcement that quickly changes everyone's priorities: staff receive information about the child, begin looking around the store, and pay particular attention to exits.

It's a reminder that these seemingly cryptic announcements can have a practical purpose. Instead of publicly announcing sensitive details over the loudspeaker, a short code immediately tells trained employees what kind of response is needed while avoiding unnecessary confusion among shoppers.

This one is considerably easier to guess. Target employees have consistently described Code Red as the store's fire alert. Once it's announced, employees know they're dealing with something very different from an ordinary customer-service request.

Red has a similar association elsewhere, but don't assume retail colors form a universal language. Different companies develop their own procedures and terminology. At Target, Red, Yellow and Green have traditionally distinguished three very different situations: fire, a missing child and a medical incident.

If Target employees suddenly start talking about a Code Green, somebody may need medical help. Long-running employee accounts identify Green with an injury or medical emergency involving a customer or team member.

Employees have recalled Code Greens being called for everything from falls to customers becoming seriously ill. That's also why the deliberately vague wording makes sense: announcing someone's private medical problem to an entire store would hardly help. Two words can instead alert the people who need to respond.

Thankfully, not every mysterious store code signals an emergency. At Lowe's, Code 50 is widely described by employees as a request for loading assistance, usually because a customer has bought something too large or heavy for one person to handle comfortably.

Considering what Lowe's sells, opportunities aren't exactly scarce. Lumber, appliances, bags of concrete, and other bulky purchases eventually have to make the journey from store to vehicle. Code 50 is essentially a discreet way of saying, "We need some extra muscle over here."

Here's another code that's far less alarming than it sounds. Lowe's employees have described Code 75 as a call to collect shopping carts from the parking lot. Available associates may suddenly find themselves heading outside to round up the wandering fleet.

Operational codes can vary between individual locations, so Code 75 isn't necessarily carved in stone at every Lowe's. Still, the mundane meaning makes it particularly fun. That ominous-sounding number coming over the PA may simply mean the cart corral is overflowing.

A Code 22 at IKEA might sound mysterious but, in fact, is used when checkout lines become overwhelmed.

Register-trained workers elsewhere in the store can then be summoned to help handle the rush. Employees have said the call is especially familiar during busy periods such as weekends. In other words, Code 22 is retail shorthand for something shoppers already know perfectly well: that line is getting much too long.

At Home Depot, employee accounts describe Code Orange as an "all hands" request when a department or area needs additional help. Rather than signaling a disaster, it can mean employees are being summoned because customers or work are piling up faster than the available staff can cope.

That's a perfect demonstration of why you shouldn't try decoding store announcements by color alone. Walmart uses Code Orange for a hazardous-material situation, while Home Depot workers have used the same color for additional assistance. Same words, considerably different levels of urgency.

Code 21 may sound like something out of a police drama, but at Walgreens, its reported purpose is much more ordinary. Employees describe it as a call for an eligible coworker when a cashier can't complete an age-restricted transaction because of age requirements.

The exact rules can depend on local law and company procedures, but the basic idea is quite mundane: the person operating the register needs another employee to finish a particular sale. So the next mysterious announcement you hear while shopping might not involve an emergency at all: it could simply be retail's secret language keeping the store moving.

We just know that we know nothing

12 facts that people often get wrong

No one can claim to know everything, but most people go through life confident about certain things. However, some of these widely held beliefs are not actually correct, despite their popularity. Let’s have a look at some "facts" you might have gotten wrong!

The idea that insects—particularly mosquitoes—are not animals is widespread, but it’s also incorrect. In fact, insects are the most diverse group within the Animal kingdom, with more than a million species described and representing more than half of the animal population of the planet.

The mistake comes from not considering that "fruit" is not only a culinary term but also a botanical one. Botanically, a fruit is the part of a plant that develops from a flower and contains seeds. This makes tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, and many other foods that we call vegetables actually fruits in the scientific sense.

Countries have a political delimitation, while continents are divided according to geographical criteria. The Russian Federation is the largest country on Earth, bordering fourteen other countries and extending across eleven time zones. It spans across a good part of Eastern Europe, but also across the Ural mountains—one of the recognized borders between Europe and Asia—and stretches deep into northern Asia.

While cold weather isn’t harmless, it is not the direct cause of illnesses like the flu, which are caused by viruses. In colder months, people tend to spend more time indoors and often avoid ventilating rooms, creating conditions that make it easier for viruses to spread and cause illness.

Bats might not prefer to be out during bright daylight, but this does not mean that they are blind. In fact, many species have excellent eyesight, though it is adapted to low-light or nighttime conditions. On top of that, bats also use echolocation, which allows them to navigate and hunt with remarkable precision in complete darkness.

The belief that you must wait a full day before reporting someone missing is a myth popularized by movies and TV shows. In reality, the law does not require a waiting period. In fact, law enforcement agencies stress that the first 24 hours are often the most critical, so a missing person should be reported immediately.

Some man-made structures are visible from space without magnification, but despite popular belief, the Great Wall of China is not one of them. While it is quite long, being over 13,000 miles long, it is relatively narrow, and its earthy colors blend in with the surrounding landscape, making it nearly impossible to spot with the naked eye from orbit.

This one is tricky: Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth (29,032 feet)… if you measure the distance from sea level to peak. For the actual tallest mountain, the answer might vary depending on how you measure. Measured from base to summit, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the tallest at 33,474 feet—though much of it is underwater. Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska rises about 18,000 feet from its base to the peak, making it the tallest mountain entirely above sea level. And Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, while shorter in height, is the farthest point on Earth from the planet’s center due to the equatorial bulge.

The Earth is tilted on an axis, which causes the amount of sunlight each hemisphere receives to change as it orbits the Sun. Because of this tilt, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and experiences summer, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away and experiences winter—and vice versa. This is why the Southern Hemisphere celebrates Christmas during summer.

Standard medical advice is to gently guide a sleepwalker back to bed rather than waking them, but not because waking them is inherently dangerous. People tend to sleepwalk during deep sleep, so waking them up might startle them or cause confusion and disorientation.

Hair color and thickness are determined by genetics, not by shaving. Hair naturally gets thin at the ends, so when you shave it, the hair shaft appears to be thicker and darker because of the blunt cut. But it's just an optical illusion; the natural size of the shaft remains unchanged.

Coffee is a natural diuretic, meaning it can increase trips to the bathroom. However, the water in brewed coffee still contributes to your hydration and offsets its mild diuretic effect. If you consume coffee in moderation—3 to 5 cups a day, depending on your tolerance—you should be alright. However, drinking extra water on the side is never a bad idea.