two plus two equals five

English

Etymology

Popularized by George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, referencing a scene in which the protagonist Winston Smith wonders if the authoritarian Inner Party would declare that "two plus two equals five". However, figurative use dates back to the 18th century.

Phrase

two plus two equals five

1. (figurative, hyperbolic) A transparently absurd claim, often accepted as a result of a tyrannical government or mass delusion.
   • 1789, Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (tr.), What Is the Third Estate?:

     Consequently, if it be claimed that, under the French constitution, 200,000 individuals, out of 26 million citizens, constitute two-thirds of the common will, only one comment is possible: It is a claim that two and two make five.

   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four:

     In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. […] For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then?

   • 2022 August 12, Jan Jekielek, Jeff Minick, “The Erosion of Truth”, in The Epoch Times‎^[1]:

     I recognize that a lot of things are gray. They are nuanced, and there are tradeoffs. But there are also things which are black and white. Two plus two does equal four. But if you can convince people that two plus two equals five, you can make them believe absurdities.