economy [LME] Like *ecology, economy and economical come from Greek oikos ‘house’, and in the 15th century they were spelled oikonomy and oikonomical. Economy was then ‘the art or science of managing a household’ and ‘the way in which household finances are managed’. The sense expanded in the 17th century to cover the management of a country’s finances. Being economical with the truth is a euphemism for lying or deliberately withholding information. The phrase appears in the mid 19th century, but did not gain widespread popularity until its use in 1986 during a government attempt to prevent the publication of Spycatcher, a book by a former MI5 officer, Peter Wright. Giving evidence at the trial, the head of the British Civil Service reportedly said of a letter: ‘It contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was economical with the truth.’