Circumlocution Office
Preserved but no longer current.
A term applied in ridicule by Dickens in Little Dorrit to our public offices, because each person tries to shuffle off every act to someone else; and before anything is done it has to pass through so many departments and so much time elapses that it is hardly worth having bothered about it.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Circumlocution Office” mean?
A term applied in ridicule by Dickens in Little Dorrit to our public offices, because each person tries to shuffle off every act to someone else; and before anything is done it has to pass through so many departments and so much time elapses that it is hardly worth having bothered about it.
Is “Circumlocution Office” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.