facecrime

English

Etymology

From face +‎ crime. Coined by George Orwell in 1949 as part of the Newspeak in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, where it refers to the act of having a facial expression indicating an unacceptable state of mind.

Noun

facecrime (countable and uncountable, plural facecrimes)

1. A facial expression considered unacceptable.
   • 2019 January 24, Ubiquitous, “Facial expressions and hats as evidence of wrongdoing are "Facecrimes" straight out of 1984”, in alt.politics.correct‎^[1] (Usenet):

     It's getting hard to keep track of all the blue-check marks who called for the death of these kids.

   • 1999, Cyril Levitt, Scott Davies, Neil McLaughlin, Mistaken Identities: The Second Wave of Controversy Over "political Correctness", Peter Lang Pub Incorporated:

     Others spoke of “facecrimes” with which white, male professors were now being charged, ...

   • 1997, Gerald Paul James McGinley, True Counsel:

     The Oak was trying, with small success, not to commit what George Orwell would have called a facecrime.