Facecrime, a "Newspeak" term coined in George Orwell's novel 1984, is the crime of exhibiting an improper facial expression. For example, to look incredulous when a state victory was announced.
"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself -- anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called."
See also
External links
- http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/ns-dict.html
- "Workers have daily smile scans," Telegraph.co.uk, 06 July 2009.
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