--- title: Peter Howell: Code Switching for Coat Switching description: The Toronto Star's movie critic Peter Howell broke the Internet when he mistakenly termed code switching, "coat switching." canonical: https://time.com/4549295/coat-switching-peter-howell/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-28T18:59:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:38:09.839Z og:title: The Internet Had a Field Day With an Unintentional Coat Pun og:description: This is "coat-switching" og:url: https://time.com/4549295/coat-switching-peter-howell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81fc273125692d1a/6988aab9428a9ec1cccd4b1b/moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Had a Field Day With an Unintentional Coat Pun twitter:description: This is "coat-switching" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81fc273125692d1a/6988aab9428a9ec1cccd4b1b/moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Is Cracking Up About a Film Article's Unintentional Pun  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 28, 2016 6:59 PM UTC  Alex Hibbert and Mahershala Ali in Moonlight Alex Hibbert and Mahershala Ali in MoonlightDavid Bornfriend—A24  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 28, 2016 6:59 PM UTC A _Toronto Star’s_ movie article has [gone viral on the Internet](http://time.com/4107316/top-10-things-that-broke-the-internet/), but perhaps not in the way that was intended. In both an article about [the critically acclaimed film _Moonlight_](http://time.com/4540116/barry-jenkins-moonlight-enchants/) and its writer/director Barry Jenkins, Peter Howell writes about Jenkins using the term “coat-switching” in reference to stereotypes. However, what Jenkins was really saying was [code-switching](http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/04/08/176064688/how-code-switching-explains-the-world), which Howell detailed in his piece as “deliberately shifting cultural traits and vernacular to suit different circumstances.” The term is commonly used in reference to racial identity. The article has since added a correction, but not before the Internet had some fun with “coatswitching.” One Twitter user was on hand to define coat-switching with pop culture. > [](https://twitter.com/NifMuhammad/status/791745979875753987) #CoatSwitching started trending on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/iamsuede/status/791767528993271808) There were plenty of hilarious hot takes. > [](https://twitter.com/prof%5Fcarrington/status/791777872239169536) > [](https://twitter.com/KiaJD/status/791754190200643584) > [](https://twitter.com/ira/status/791749168926568448) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4549295/coat-switching-peter-howell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4549295/coat-switching-peter-howell/"},"headline":"The Internet Is Cracking Up About a Film Article's Unintentional Pun","datePublished":"2016-10-28T18:59:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:09.839Z","description":"\"I learned 'coat switching' from watching Mr. Rogers\"","url":"https://time.com/4549295/coat-switching-peter-howell/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Internet","movies","Culture","moonlight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81fc273125692d1a/6988aab9428a9ec1cccd4b1b/moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81fc273125692d1a/6988aab9428a9ec1cccd4b1b/moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali","caption":"moonlight-a24-alex-hibbert-mahershala-ali","creditText":"David Bornfriend—A24","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4549295/coat-switching-peter-howell/","name":"The Internet Is Cracking Up About a Film Article's Unintentional Pun"}}]}] ```