An Act of Propaganda

September 21, 2006 5:16 PM

Help me find a quotation. I have a vague memory of a quote from a respected literary figure (perhaps Orwell) which states that the name given to a piece of legislation will always denote the opposite of the purpose of the legislation. In effect, the names of our laws are propaganda. The USA PATRIOT Act springs immediately to mind. Are you familiar with this alleged quote? Who said it and what did they say? Or did my drug-addled brain make the whole thing up?
posted by oncogenesis to Law & Government (3 answers total)

First place to look would be Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language; on a cursory search I don't find the quote in there, but the idea is certainly there.
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:24 PM on September 21, 2006

I seem to remember a passage in 1984 (I haven't read it since I was a child) in which Orwell explains that the function of the various minitries tended to be exact opposites of their names.

Ministry of Truth spread lies, for example, and Ministry of Peace prosecuted the eternal war.

Perhaps this is what you're remembering?
posted by The Confessor at 5:30 PM on September 21, 2006

Not what you're looking for, but I've noticed this same phenomenon with RVs. That is, the bigger and more cumbersome the RV, the more likely the model name is something like The Air Gazelle.
posted by cocoagirl at 8:09 AM on September 22, 2006