code brown

7.9

An alert telling staff to respond to a dangerous spill or escaped animal

noun

Jargon

: código marrón

The hospital declared a code brown after a chemical spill occurred in the laboratory.

Examples

When the animal escaped, zoo staff called a code brown to alert everyone.
During the drill, we practiced our response to a code brown scenario.
The hospital declared a code brown after the chemical spill.
During the meeting, they announced a code brown alert.
The hospital declared a code brown after a chemical spill occurred in the laboratory.
During the drill, we practiced our response to a code brown scenario.
When the animal escaped, zoo staff called a code brown to alert everyone.

Surface Forms

code brown singular

code browns plural

Morphology

code + brown

A B1 learner who knows 'code' and 'brown' can plausibly infer this is a color-coded emergency label (i.e., some kind of 'code' indicated by the color brown), so the general idea of an alert is transparent. However, the specific meaning (hazardous spill, sanitary incident, etc.) is not predictable from the color 'brown' alone and varies by institution, so the precise sense cannot be derived without prior exposure.

Etymology

Code brown comes from the short colour alerts hospitals and public places use; code is the quick alarm and brown was often chosen for dirty or messy spills. That's why a code brown means 'a hazardous or messy spill' that needs fast action.