Cracking the code: Secrets hidden in my contacts list

By Fiifi NETTEY

Have you ever considered how you’ve saved the contacts in your phone? In the event of an emergency, would a good Samaritan be able to identify the right person to call just by scrolling through your contact list?  Think about it.

I was sitting quietly, lost in thought, reflecting on life and its mysteries, when my phone suddenly drew my attention. I picked it up and began scrolling through it, and something unusual stood out—my contacts list. I realised how oddly and cryptically I had saved some of the names, making me wonder how anyone else would make sense of them in an emergency.

It was both bizarre and laughable. In that moment, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter—amused by my own quirky way of saving contacts. To anyone else, my phone would be a puzzle. They’d be completely lost, unsure of whom to call or what the names even meant. But to me, each contact holds meaning—a story only I understand. While it might seem confusing to others, every name makes perfect sense in my world.

While some of my contacts are saved with their full names, others are coded so strangely that any stranger with my phone would be completely baffled. I have names like ‘You Only’, ‘Killer’, ‘Tema East’, ‘Perfect Match’, ‘My Heart’, ‘Last Stop’, ‘Kokomlemle In’, ‘Houses’, ‘Kuntu’, ‘Helper’, ‘Shoppasser’, ‘Yoyoyo’, ‘Original’, ‘Coach’, ‘Trouble’ and even ‘Between’. To an outsider, they may seem random or meaningless but to me, each one holds a special story—an inside joke, a cherished memory or a moment that defined how I met that person. These names are deeply personal, evoking feelings of joy, sorrow and laughter. They’re more than just contacts—they’re encrypted memories etched in my heart forever. Anytime l answer a call from these contacts, the feeling is different.

At first, I thought I was the only one with this strange habit of saving contacts in cryptic or mysterious ways. But curiosity got better of me, so I decided to check a friend’s phone. What I found had me laughing even harder—and completely baffled. His contact list was even more confusing than mine, filled with names that made absolutely no sense to anyone but him.

My friend, who is married, had an even stranger way of saving contacts. I couldn’t believe some of the names I saw on his phone— ‘Please Left’, ‘Momo Through’, ‘High Jump’, ‘Blue School’, ‘69 Front’, ‘Sweat things’, ‘Eastern’, ‘Town to Town’, ‘Thin Thin’, ‘Mechanic 1’, and ‘I See’. To my surprise, he had saved my number as ‘Customer’, and another contact simply was ‘Like That He’, one of our best friends. I was completely confused, so I had to ask him why he saved names that way.

His response was brief—but loaded with meaning: “Get married, and you’ll understand.” Still not satisfied with his explanation, I pressed him for more—and what he said made me laugh even harder.

We live in a world where it’s important to create a system that makes it easy to remember things, especially when it comes to saving contacts on your phone. People can get frustrated when they call, and you can’t recognise them immediately. In some cases, saving contact with their real name can cause unnecessary confusion or even stir up controversy, especially when others in your list have similar names. According to him, it’s essential to label people in a way that allows you to identify them instantly—even if they’re close acquaintances you don’t interact with regularly.

“I do this so I can quickly tell who’s calling,” he added. “You know we live with ‘security women’—the kind who can turn the simplest thing into a full-blown issue.”

Mensa has a bizarre way of saving his contact. Most of the names are saved in Arabic and Latin. To my surprise, he can’t speak any of these languages, so l asked why? He said coded for security reasons. It sounds strange, but l did not enquire further. But burst into laughter.

Another colleague shared that he had saved most contact names as ‘schoolmates’ on his phone because of his wife. Interestingly, his wife had saved his contact’s name as ‘troubleHouse’. When he noticed it, he burst into laughter and asked her if he was really causing that much trouble at home. She replied: “Not really — it’s just that you leave your things scattered everywhere.”

To my surprise, I noticed that several of my friends also have this strange or mysterious way of saving contacts. Curious, I asked why they save names in such unusual ways. Their responses were both interesting and amusing.

• Location-based names – “I save contacts based on where I meet the person,” one friend explained. “If I met someone in Kasoa, I’d likely save them as ‘Kasoa Guy’.”
• Business or transactional labels – Another said: “It’s about the kind of business I do with them. I have names like ‘Momo Man’ or ‘Car Spare Part’ saved.”
• Memory aids – Some admitted they often forget names, so they use physical descriptions or moments to help remember, like ‘Tall Man’, ‘Church Lady’, ‘Friday Market’, or ‘Fiifi Left Hse’.
• Privacy and discretion – A few intentionally code names to avoid suspicion or questions, especially in relationships or sensitive business matters.
• Jokes – Others base their contact names on personal jokes or funny incidents, making the names meaningful only to them—or a close friend in the know.

I interacted with an expert who believes that even though mobile phones are private, individual and security protective, it is not of worry and sometimes good to code things. It might save you sometimes when you misplace your phone or your phone gets into the wrong hands. But with issues that have to do with personal emergencies, you’d be found wanting because there may be a need to use your phone to save yourself life when you are unconscious assuming?

Looking at the way people save numbers, it raises an interesting question: What exactly are we protecting, and what are we hiding? Is it just about making our contact lists personal, or are we concealing relationships, transactions or secrets? Whatever the reason, one thing is certain—our contact lists tell stories about our lives, our experiences and, sometimes, our secrets. So, the next time you pick up someone’s phone and see a contact saved as ‘Don’t Pick’, ‘Problem Man’ ‘Last Warning’ or ‘Put Me Down’, just know—there’s definitely a story behind it.

>>>The author is a Media Consultant

The post Cracking the code: Secrets hidden in my contacts list appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

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