Economical with the truth is popularly used as a euphemism for deceitful, whether by volunteering false information (i.e., lying) or by deliberately holding back relevant facts. More literally, it describes a careful use of facts so as not to reveal too much information.
A similar expression appeared in Mr. Punch's History of the Great War, published in July 1919:
| “ | Lord Kitchener has been charged with being "very economical in his information" vouchsafed to the Lords... | ” |
The modern phrase entered popular usage after it was used by the British then-Cabinet Secretary Robert Armstrong during the Spycatcher trial in 1986. It derives from Edmund Burke:
| “ | Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatever: but, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an economy of truth. It is a sort of temperance, by which a man speaks truth with measure that he may speak it the longer. | ” |
Famous quotes containing the words economical and/or truth:
“In short I must confide in you to take such care of the men under you as an economical householder would of his own family, doing every thing within himself as far as he can, and calling for as few supplies as possible. The less you depend for supplies from this quarter, the less you will be disappointed.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Science seems to me to teach in the highest and strongest manner the great truth which is embodied in the
Christian conception of entire surrender to the will of God. Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)