[bouncycastle]

Excuse me, but isn't "undercover" redundant in "undercover spy"?.. I mean, all spies work undercover :-)

[wycy → bouncycastle]

There are spies with official cover and non-official cover[0]--the latter of which is normally to what "undercover spy" refers.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-official_cover

[secfirstmd → wycy]

Also spies is really an overarching term and means shedloads of different things in reality.

I mean if you break it down in the simplest way possible (for example what the public see on TV and call a spy), what they are seeing is various people who are:

-Handler

-Agent

-Agent of influence

-Analyst

-Mobile Surveillance Officer

-Tech officer

etc etc etc

[darkpuma → bouncycastle]

Not really, some spies have official diplomatic status. Their public job title may not be "spy", but it's generally assumed that the host country knows what's up.

[ConcernedCoder → bouncycastle]

I actually liked "talking audibly" better... it reminded me of the movie "Naked Lunch" where Bill Lee was conversing "telepathically" about something completely different from the inane verbal chit-chat he was having with Tom Frost in the medina... http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/adiab/clips/FF_Cronen...